St. Joseph's Infirmary opened a Pacemaker Clinic May 25, to scientifically predict the useful life of implanted pacemakers, thereby limiting unpredictable failures and preventing premature replacement of these expensive items.

A pacemaker is a battery-operated device used to electrically stimulate the heartbeat. This device is used when a heart has been damaged due to a congenital heart defect or acquired heart disease which has altered the heart's natural conduction system

The clinic will be open on Tuesday afternoons and will be under the supervision of Dr. Arnoldo Fiedotin, the director of cardiac services at the hospital. It is staffed by specially-trained technicians and has the latest equipment to evaluate all brands and types of pacemakers. This service is available to pacemaker patients throughout Georgia through physician referral.

Optimally, patients will be seen in the clinic as soon after pacemaker implant as is feasible, and subsequently at three-month intervals until the pacemaker is one year old, every two months until the pacemaker is 18 months old, and then monthly until pacemaker replacement is indicated.

During each clinic visit, the patient will have an electrocardiogram, a photograph of the pacemaker output waveform, and a recording of the pacemaker rate. Pacemakers with sensing circuits are further tested for adequate triggering response with an external pacemaker. Pertinent data concerning the patient's visit to the Pacemaker Clinic will be evaluated by the cardiologist and furnished to the referring physician for his use in the continuing care of the patient.

Patients having a pacemaker for more than two years, or who have suspected impending pacemaker failure, will be provided with telephone adapters to permit monitoring of their pacemaker rate from their home on a weekly basis. The referring physician will also receive a report of this pacemaker analysis after each monitor session.

To the hospital's knowledge, the clinic is the fifth of its kind in the nation and the second in the southeast.