ACC/AHA/NASPE 2002 Guideline Update for Implantation of Cardiac Pacemakers and Antiarrhythmia Devices: Summary Article A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (ACC/AHA/NASPE Committee to Update the 1998 Pacemaker Guidelines)

The current update of the ACC/AHA/NASPE Guidelines for Implantation of Cardiac Pacemakers and Antiarrhythmia Devices includes several significant changes in the recommendations and in the supporting narrative portion. In this summary, we list the updated recommendations along with the respective 1998 recommendations, each one accompanied by a brief comment outlining the rationale for the changes, additions, or deletions. All new or revised recommendations are listed in the second column and appear in boldface type. References that support either the 1998 recommendations that have not changed or the new or revised recommendations are noted in parentheses at the end of each recommendation. The reader is referred to the full-text version of the guidelines posted on the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Heart Association (AHA), and North American Society for Pacing and Electrophysiology (NASPE) World Wide Web sites for a more detailed exposition of the rationale for these changes. In addition to the recommendation changes listed here, this update includes an expanded section on the selection of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) that reflects the technical advances that have taken place since 1998. A brief expanded summary of pacemaker follow-up procedures is also new to these guidelines. For both of these …