Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Medical Journal logoLink to British Medical Journal
. 1980 Jan 19;280(6208):139–141. doi: 10.1136/bmj.280.6208.139

Survival in sinoatrial disorder (sick-sinus syndrome).

D B Shaw, R R Holman, J I Gowers
PMCID: PMC1600350  PMID: 7357290

Abstract

A total of 381 patients with established (156) or potential (225) sinoatrial dysfunction were included in a 10-year prospective survey to determine the course of the disease and the benefits of pacing. With the exclusion of nine patients who were lost to follow-up, 61 were fitted with pacemakers. The overall survival of patients with established and potential dysfunction was similar and apparently indistinguishable from that of the normal population. Pacemaker implantation had little discernible effect on mortality though it reduced some incapacitating symptoms. These findings suggest that sinoatrial dysfunction is a relatively benign condition. Hence pacing should probably not be adopted as a routing measure but be reserved for patients with troublesome symptoms.

Full text

PDF
140

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. CUTLER S. J., EDERER F. Maximum utilization of the life table method in analyzing survival. J Chronic Dis. 1958 Dec;8(6):699–712. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(58)90126-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Eraut D., Shaw D. B. Sinus bradycardia. Br Heart J. 1971 Sep;33(5):742–749. doi: 10.1136/hrt.33.5.742. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Ferrer M. I. The sick sinus syndrome. Circulation. 1973 Mar;47(3):635–641. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.47.3.635. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ferrer M. I. The sick sinus syndrome: its status after ten years. Chest. 1977 Nov;72(5):554–555. doi: 10.1378/chest.72.5.554. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gann D., Tolentino A., Samet P. Electrophysiologic evaluation of elderly patients with sinus bradycardia: a long-term follow-up study. Ann Intern Med. 1979 Jan;90(1):24–29. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-90-1-24. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gould L., Reddy C. V., Becker W. H. The sick sinus syndrome. A study of 50 cases. J Electrocardiol. 1978 Jan;11(1):11–14. doi: 10.1016/s0022-0736(78)80023-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Härtel G., Talvensaari T. Treatment of sinoatrial syndrome with permanent cardiac pacing in 90 patients. Acta Med Scand. 1975 Nov;198(5):341–347. doi: 10.1111/j.0954-6820.1975.tb19555.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kaplan B. M. Sick sinus syndrome. Arch Intern Med. 1978 Jan;138(1):28–28. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Krishnaswami V., Geraci A. R. Permanent pacing in disorders of sinus node function. Am Heart J. 1975 May;89(5):579–585. doi: 10.1016/0002-8703(75)90502-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lien W. P., Lee Y. S., Chang F. Z., Lee S. Y., Chen C. M., Tsai H. C. The sick sinus syndrome: natural history of dysfunction of the sinoatrial node. Chest. 1977 Nov;72(5):628–634. doi: 10.1378/chest.72.5.628. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. McLeod A. A., Jewitt D. E. Role of 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring in a general hospital. Br Med J. 1978 May 6;1(6121):1197–1199. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6121.1197. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Nolan S. P., Crampton R. S., McGuire L. B., McGann R. C., Holz H. C., Muller W. H. Factors influencing survival of patients with permanent cardiac pacemakers. Ann Surg. 1977 Jan;185(1):122–127. doi: 10.1097/00000658-197701000-00020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Shaw D. B., Eraut D. Prevalence and morbidity of heart block in Devon. Br Med J. 1970 Jan 17;1(5689):144–147. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.5689.144. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shaw D. B., Kekwick C. A. Potential candidates for pacemakers. Survey of heart block and sinoatrial disorder (sick sinus syndrome). Br Heart J. 1978 Feb;40(2):99–105. doi: 10.1136/hrt.40.2.99. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wohl A. J., Laborde N. J., Atkins J. M., Blomqvist C. G., Mullins C. B. Prognosis of patients permanently paced for sick sinus syndrome. Arch Intern Med. 1976 Apr;136(4):406–408. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES