Method and system for treatment of neurocardiogenic syncope

[0002] This invention pertains to implantable medical devices and to methods for treating syncopal episodes.

[0003] Syncope, or fainting, is a transient loss of consciousness and postural tone that may be due a number of etiologies, both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular. The most common pathophysiogical basis of syncope is an acute decrease in cerebral blood flow secondary to a decrease in cardiac output, thereby causing cerebral hypoxia. Such a decrease in cardiac output can be due to, for example, cardiac arrhythmias or cardiac outflow obstructions. Neurocardiogenic syncope is a relatively benign condition in which dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system causes an inappropriate slowing of the heart (bradycardia) to result in hypotension. Classic neurogenic syncope (vasovagal syncope) occurs when inappropriate reflex inhibition of the sympathetic nervous system and increased parasympathetic activity causes both bradycardia and peripheral vasodilation. Vasovagal syncope may occur in otherwise healthy individuals and in patients with a variety of underlying diseases. A number of factors may precipitate vasovagal syncope, including a hot or crowded environment, alcohol, extreme fatigue, hunger, chronic recumbency, prolonged standing, and emotional or stressful situations. Another type of neurocardiogenic syncope involves failure of the baroreceptor reflex to transiently increase the heart rate when an individual rises to an upright position, causing venous pooling in the lower extremities and decreased venous return to the right side of the heart.

[0004] Even if the cause of the syncope is benign, however, its consequences may not be. Falls during syncope can result in fractures, and episodes that occur while driving can be extremely dangerous. Chronic and recurring syncope can create a level of functional impairment similar to that produced by other chronic debilitating disorders.

[0005] The present invention is a system and method for preventing and/or treating syncope with cardiac electrostimulation delivered by an implantable medical device that increases cardiac output. The heart rate is monitored and, when bradycardia below a specified limit value is detected that indicates the onset of a syncopal episode, electrostimulation pulses are delivered to a ventricle during its refractory period. Such electrostimulation pulses are non-excitatory but serve to increase the contractility of the ventricle. Stroke volume and cardiac output are thereby increased in order to prevent or lessen the severity of the syncopal episode.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an exemplary cardiac rhythm management device.

[0007] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary control scheme for implementing the invention.

[0008] The present invention for treating neurocardiogenic syncope may be incorporated into various types of cardiac rhythm management devices having means for sensing and electrostimulating the heart. As will be described below, the invention may most conveniently be incorporated into a pacemaker.

[0009] 1. System Description

[0010] Cardiac rhythm management devices are implantable devices that provide electrical stimulation to selected chambers of the heart in order to treat disorders of cardiac rhythm and include pacemakers and implantable cardioverter/defibrillators. A pacemaker is a cardiac rhythm management device that paces the heart with timed pacing pulses. The most common condition for which pacemakers are used is in the treatment of bradycardia, where the ventricular rate is too slow. Atrio-ventricular conduction defects (i.e., AV block) that are permanent or intermittent and sick sinus syndrome represent the most common causes of bradycardia for which permanent pacing may be indicated. If functioning properly, the pacemaker makes up for the heart's inability to pace itself at an appropriate rhythm in order to meet metabolic demand by enforcing a minimum heart rate. Pacing therapy may also be applied in order to treat cardiac rhythms that are too fast, termed anti-tachycardia pacing. (As the term is used herein, a pacemaker is any cardiac rhythm management device with a pacing functionality, regardless of any other functions it may perform such as the delivery cardioversion or defibrillation shocks to terminate atrial or ventricular fibrillation.)

[0011] Pacemakers are typically implanted subcutaneously on a patient's chest and have leads threaded intravenously into the heart to connect the device to electrodes used for sensing and pacing. A programmable electronic controller causes the pacing pulses to be output in response to lapsed time intervals and sensed electrical activity (i.e., intrinsic heart beats not as a result of a pacing pulse). Pacemakers sense intrinsic cardiac electrical activity by means of internal electrodes disposed near the chamber to be sensed. A depolarization wave associated with an intrinsic contraction of the atria or ventricles that is detected by the pacemaker is referred to as an atrial sense or ventricular sense, respectively. In order to cause such a contraction in the absence of an intrinsic beat, a pacing pulse (either an atrial pace or a ventricular pace) with energy above a certain pacing threshold is delivered to the chamber.

[0012] FIG. 1 shows a system diagram of a microprocessor-based cardiac rhythm management device suitable for delivering various cardiac rhythm management therapies including treatment of neurocardiogenic syncope as detailed below. The device is a pacemaker that is physically configured with sensing and pacing channels for both atria and both ventricles. The controller 10 of the device is a microprocessor that communicates with a memory 12 via a bidirectional data bus. The memory 12 typically comprises a ROM (read-only memory) for program storage and a RAM (random-access memory) for data storage. The pacemaker has an atrial sensing and pacing channel comprising electrode 34, lead 33, sensing amplifiers 31, pulse generators 32, and atrial channel interface 30 which communicates bidirectionally with microprocessor 10. The device also has a plurality of ventricular sensing and pacing/stimulation channels for one or both ventricles, three of which are shown as comprising electrodes 24a-c, leads 23a-c, sensing amplifiers 21a-c, pulse generators 22a-c, and ventricular channel interfaces 20a-c. In this embodiment, a single electrode is used for sensing and pacing in each channel, known as a unipolar lead. Other embodiments may employ bipolar leads that include two electrodes for outputting a pacing pulse and/or sensing intrinsic activity. The channel interfaces 20a-cand 30 may include analog-to-digital converters for digitizing sensing signal inputs from the sensing amplifiers and registers which can be written to by the microprocessor in order to output pacing pulses, change the pacing pulse amplitude, and adjust the gain and threshold values for the sensing amplifiers. An exertion level sensor 330 (e.g., an accelerometer or a minute ventilation sensor) enables the controller to adapt the pacing rate in accordance with changes in the patient's physical activity. A telemetry interface 40 is also provided for communicating with an external programmer 500 that has an associated display 510.

[0013] Bradycardia pacing modes refer to pacing algorithms used to pace the atria and/or ventricles when the intrinsic ventricular rate is inadequate either due to AV conduction blocks or sinus node dysfunction. Such modes may either be single-chamber pacing, where either an atrium or a ventricle is paced, or dual-chamber pacing in which both an atrium and a ventricle are paced. Pacemakers can enforce a minimum heart rate either asynchronously or synchronously. In asynchronous pacing, the heart is paced at a fixed rate irrespective of intrinsic cardiac activity. There is thus a risk with asynchronous pacing that a pacing pulse will be delivered coincident with an intrinsic beat and during the heart's vulnerable period which may cause fibrillation. Most pacemakers for treating bradycardia today are therefore programmed to operate synchronously in a so-called demand mode where sensed cardiac events occurring within a defined interval either trigger or inhibit a pacing pulse. Inhibited demand pacing modes utilize escape intervals to control pacing in accordance with sensed intrinsic activity. In an inhibited demand mode, a pacing pulse is delivered to a heart chamber during a cardiac cycle only after expiration of a defined escape interval during which no intrinsic beat by the chamber is detected. If an intrinsic beat occurs during this interval, the heart is thus allowed to “escape” from pacing by the pacemaker. Such an escape interval can be defined for each paced chamber. For example, a ventricular escape interval can be defined between ventricular events so as to be restarted with each ventricular sense or pace. The inverse of this escape interval is the minimum rate at which the pacemaker will allow the ventricles to beat, sometimes referred to as the lower rate limit (LRL).

[0014] 2. Cardiac Contractility Modulation

[0015] In accordance with the invention, when bradycardia below a specified threshold that could otherwise cause syncope is detected by the device, one or more electrostimulatory pulses are delivered to the heart during the refractory period of one or more heartbeats. Such stimulation, referred to herein as cardiac contractility modulation (CCM), is non-excitatory because it is delivered during the refractory period of the ventricle. (The refractory period of the ventricle in this case refers to that portion of the ventricle to which is delivered the electrostimulatory pulse being refractory.) It has been found that such stimulation causes an increase in myocardial contractility, presumably by increasing intracellular calcium concentration. The increase in contractility increases stroke volume so that more blood is pumped in a subsequent systolic contraction. The increased stroke volume counteracts the bradycardia and thereby stabilizes cardiac output to either prevent or shorten the duration of a syncopal episode. The invention may be a dedicated implantable device or incorporated into an implantable cardiac rhythm management device such as a pacemaker, implantable cardioverter/defibrillator, or combination device.

[0016] Sensing of cardiac activity and delivery of CCM stimulatory pulses may be accomplished using sensing/pacing channels otherwise used for pacing the ventricles with a bradycardia pacing mode or using channels dedicated for the purpose of delivering CCM pulses. In the device shown in FIG. 1, for example, any of the ventricular sensing/pacing channels may be used for delivering CCM stimulation pulses. FIG. 2 illustrates a basic control scheme for carrying out the method as would be implemented by programming the microprocessor 10. In the illustrated scheme, several optional steps are described that may or may not be implemented in various embodiments. At step S1, the ventricular rate is continuously monitored by receiving ventricular senses representing intrinsic ventricular depolarizations from one of the ventricular sensing channels. To derive the ventricular rate VR, the interval between successive ventricular senses is measured and compared to a maximum limit value in order to detect bradycardia as shown at step S2, where the inverse of the interval corresponding to the ventricular rate VR is compared with a bradycardia limit value VR_min. Bradycardia is detected if VR<VR_min, and delivery of CCM stimulation pulses is then initiated at step S4 using one of the ventricular stimulation channels. The stimulation pulses are delivered during the refractory period of the ventricle by timing a pulse to occur within a refractory interval following a ventricular sense or a ventricular pace if the device is also operating in a bradycardia pacing mode. The device then returns to the monitoring of the ventricular rate at step S1, and delivery of CCM pulses is terminated at step S3 if the ventricular rate VR equals or exceeds the limit value VR_min. Optionally, the limit value VR_minmay be increased to a hysteresis value VR_minat step S4 so that CCM pulse delivery is maintained until the heart rate rises above an increased bradycardia limit value. In that case, the bradycardia limit value is returned to a non-hysteresis value at step S3 when CCM pulse delivery is terminated. In another option, if the device is also operating in a bradycardia pacing mode, the lower rate limit may be increased upon detection of bradycardia as shown at step S5. The heart is then paced at a faster rate simultaneously with the application of cardiac contractility modulation.

[0017] Modifications may be made to the method so that one or more additional criteria are employed to confirm that a syncopal episode is taking place before CCM stimulatory pulses are delivered. One such modification is shown at step S1 where the measured intervals between ventricular senses are moving average filtered in order to derive the ventricular rate VR. The moving average filter smooths the ventricular rate so that bradycardia is not detected when long intervals occur solely due to the variability of the instantaneous rate. Another optional modification is to measure the blood pressure as shown at step S2 and deliver CCM stimulatory pulses only if it is below a specified limit value. The blood pressure measurement may be used instead of a sensed heart rate decrease or may be used to confirm the rate decrease before initiating therapy. One way of measuring blood pressure in a cardiac rhythm management device is to use an accelerometer, such as the exertion level sensor 330, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,324, issued to Carlson and hereby incorporated by reference. In a further refinement, the magnitude and/or duration of the CCM pulses can be increased as the measured blood pressure decreases in order to maximize the effectiveness of the therapy.

[0018] Cardiac contractility modulation may also be applied to multiple sites in order to distribute the effects of the stimulation pulses. Because this type of non-excitatory stimulation also increases local oxygen consumption, distributing the stimulation over a plurality of sites serves to help prevent potentially deleterious effects at the stimulation sites. Accordingly, at step S5 the ventricular stimulation channels can be alternated with each stimulatory pulse so that the pulses are alternately delivered to electrodes 24a-c.

[0019] Although the invention has been described in conjunction with the foregoing specific embodiment, many alternatives, variations, and modifications will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Such alternatives, variations, and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the following appended claims.