The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 25, 558-560, Copyright © 1978 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Clinical trials with one type of lithium pacemaker generator
WG Trapp and CA Taunton
Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc. (CPI) solid-state, lithium-powered pulse
generators were implanted in 100 patients by one surgeon in a twenty-
eight-month period. Eleven CPI pacer generators were replaced, none due to
pacer failure. Ninety-nine percent of the patients were followed for a
total of 1,397.55 patient-months; 12 patients died, but no deaths appeared
to be pacemaker related. The average age of the patients at the time of
implantation was 72.8 years. If the warranty period of six years is
achieved, the number of pacemaker generator changes required by many of the
patients in this group could foreseeably be zero.