[Who dictates the rhythm which must be followed? : Pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators in anesthesiology]

[Pacemaker, defibrillator and co : Perioperative handling of cardiac implantable electronic devices]

The number of patients treated with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) is continously increasing. Knowledge of the medical indications and technical mode of functioning of these devices is a basic prerequisite for the safe perioperative care of this patient cohort. The CIEDs are subjected to a multitude of disturbing influences in the perioperative setting. This can result in potentially dangerous complications, such as exit block and oversensing. The safe performance of interventions is possible as long as some basic rules are followed. An interdisciplinary approach involving all participating disciplines is necessary in order to adequately deal with the high demands placed on the logistics.

[Anesthesiological aspects of deep brain stimulation : special features of implementation and dealing with brain pacemaker carriers]

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) provides a very effective treatment for a number of neurological diseases including Parkinson's disease, movement disorders and epilepsy. In DBS microelectrodes are positioned in defined cerebral target areas and connected to a pacemaker. It is most often performed as an awake craniotomy with intraoperative testing. Various anesthesiological regimes are used to protect the patient from surgical stress on the one hand and to achieve ideal test conditions on the other. They include local anesthesia or scalp blocks, intermittent general anesthesia or analgosedation with or without airway protection; however, anesthetic agents interfere with hemodynamic stability and ventilation, with vigilance and cooperation and in addition with the symptoms and microelectrode recording. Guidance and communication have a pivotal impact on patient needs for pharmacological interventions. With increasing numbers of DBS procedures, anesthesiologists are more often faced with patients carrying brain pacemakers. For anesthesia the characteristics of the disease as well as the respective long-term medication have to be considered. In addition, the rules for handling patients with pacemakers need to be followed to avoid both dysfunction of the generator and tissue damage due to overheating of the electrodes.