TRANSISTOR PACEMAKER FOR TREATMENT OF COMPLETE ATRIOVENTRICULAR DISSOCIATION

The pacemaker here described has been used in 66 patients to correct complete heart block. In most cases the block followed surgical procedures, but it also occurred in some nonsurgical patients. The pacemaker consists of three parts: a 9.4-volt mercury cell battery as the source of power; a transistorized oscillator transformer to generate the pulses needed to stimulate the heart; and a unipolar or bipolar electrode in the form of a wire anchored by stitches to the myocardium. The myocardium of