Myopotential interference inducing pacemaker tachycardia in a DVI programmed pacemaker.

A 67-year-old male, suffering from ventricular tachycardia unresponsive to drug therapy, received a universal AV sequential pacemaker (DDD,M). The pacemaker was programmed in the DVI mode, pacing rate 100 bpm, AV interval 250 ms. After implantation, the patient experiences two episodes of tachycardia that proved to be pacemaker tachycardia with a rate of 150 bpm. The first period was self-terminating, and the second had to be stopped by reprogramming the pulse generator. Pacemaker tachycardia could easily be provoked by instructing the patient to contract the pectoral muscle adjacent to the pulse generator. To our knowledge, this is the first report of pacemaker tachycardia provoked by myopotentials in a pulse generator programmed in the DVI mode.