Survey of Cardiac Pacemaker Implantation in Turkey: Calendar Years 2000 to 2002

The Working Group on Cardiac Pacing, Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology of the Turkish Society of Cardiology have collected pacemaker data from the centers for the years 2000 to 2002 in order to evaluate treament practice in Turkey. Questionnaires were sent to 61 centers implanting pacemakers and responses were received from 40 (68%) of them. The total number of pacemaker implants reported was 1329 in 2000 (35 centers), 1568 in 2001 (39 centers) and 890 in 2002 (26 centers). The ratio of first pacemaker implants was 85.8%, 83.7% and 81.2% in 2000, 2001 and 2002, respectively. The percentage of male patients was 51.2% (mean age 62.7 years) in 2000, 53.7% (mean age 64.4 years) in 2001 and 50.5% (mean age 61 years) in 2002. The mean age of female patients was 64.5 years in 2000, 65.6 years in 2001 and 65 years in 2002. The most important symptoms prior to implantation were syncope and dizziness. The etiology was marked as unknown in the majority of the patients followed by ischemic heart disease. Atrioventricular block was the most common abnormal ECG finding in patients undergoing pacemaker implantation. Physiological pacing, defined as atrial-based pacing, was chosen in 51.1% of the patients in 2000, %53.3 in 2001 and %53.3 in 2002. Dual chamber pacing for atrioventricular block was chosen for 34.8% of the patients in 2000, for 33.1% in 2001 and for 33.6% in 2002. For sick sinus syndrome (SSS), dual chamber pacing was chosen for 61.5% of patients in 2000, for 59.4 % in 2001 and for 61.7% in 2002. The percentage of single chamber ventricular pacing for atrioventricular block was 41.7%, 36.1% and 38.2% and for SSS, 27%, 29.8% and 24.7% in the years 2000 to 2002, respectively. For atrioventricular block, single lead VDD pacing was chosen in 23.5% in 2000, 30.8% in 2001 and 28.2% in 2002. This survey gave in right into the permanent pacemakers application in Turkey. We hope it will serve as a base for more comprehensive future surveys. (Türk Kardiyol Dern Arş 2004; 32: 117-124)