The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 30, 191-191, Copyright © 1980 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Atrial pacing during intraaortic balloon pumping
DD Payne and RJ Cleveland
Intraaortic balloon pumping and atrial pacing are both useful in treating
postoperative low output syndrome. However, the electrocardiographic atrial
pacing spike can interfere with the electrocardiogram tracking mechanism of
many balloon consoles. Bipolar epicardial pacing can avoid this problem and
allow simultaneous atrial pacing and intraaortic balloon pumping.