Abstract

Complete heart block can occur in ischaemic heart disease, and can acutely complicate myocardial infarction. Most other cases are associated with fibrosis of the bundle of His of unknown cause, or are congenital. In some patients with chronic heart block, especially the congenital type, adequate output is maintained. In other patients chronic or intermittent heart block may cause Stokes-Adams attacks, or heart failure may not respond to digitalis and diuretics until the heart rate is increased. These require treatment by drugs or, when this fails, by use of anartifical pacemaker.