[Kristi Lee]

YOu have patient with a mitral valve replacement, and a pacemaker, the ekg strip reads 100 % atrial paced, can you explain what this means and what would be a normal value.
thank you!

[jmgrn65]

It means it pacing through the atria probably overriding atrial fibrillation, but the patient probably would be ventricular pacing as well. Pt is atrial paced, if they are also vent. paced then it would be "paced rhtym"
Normal values depends on what it is set at, but normal isnt' going to change just because they are paced.

[km5v6r]

It depends on what type of pacer they have and how it is programed. The may have a DDD pacer meaning it can sense and pace both the atrium and ventricle. The pacer "see's" a beat. It then waits a programmed amount of time to "see" a p-wave meaning the SA node has fired. No p-wave occurs so the pacer fires the atrial pacing wire causing a pacer spike on the EKG. The pacer then waits the programmed amount of time to "see" a QRS. If no QRS occurs the ventricular pacing wire is activated and a paced QRS occurs. At any point in the process the heart can kick in with it own beat and inhibit the pacer. It sounds like in this person the pacer is firing for the SA node and his own rythmn responds and carries through with the rest of the beat. Normal depends on if this is how the pacer was programed and if the person is tolerating the rate and rythmn.

[augigi]

100% atrial paced - means that there are no spontaneously-occurring P waves (atrial beats), as each atrial contraction is stimulated by the pacemaker-generated electricity.

If you're pacing postoperatively, 100% paced is good, this means you have perfect "capture" of the atria.