Cross talk in dual chamber pacemakers
Posted by: Johnson Francis on: 17 Jan, 2009
Cross talk is sensing of the far field signal, either the ventricular signal in the atrial circuit or atrial signal in the ventricular circuit. Usually it is the sensing of atrial signal in the ventricular channel.
Cross talk detection in the ventricular channel can cause asystole. Following conditions predispose to cross talk inhibition of the ventricular channel:
Short ventricular blanking period
High atrial output
High ventricular sensitivity
Atrial cross talk is known as far field R wave oversensing. This can cause automatic mode switching because the sensed atrial rate is high. This can be prevented by programming the post ventricular atrial refractory period (PVARP) to a higher value.
