Dual-chamber pacing
Also calledDual chamber pace · DDD pacing · DDDR pacing · AV sequential pacing · Atrioventricular sequential pacing
Definition
Pacing from a device with leads in both the right atrium and the right ventricle that can sense and pace both chambers, classically the DDD mode (DDDR when rate modulation is added). After a sensed or paced atrial event the device paces the ventricle at the end of a programmed atrioventricular (AV) interval, so each ventricular beat stays timed to the atrium (atrium-synchronous ventricular pacing). Sensing in either chamber can withhold that chamber's output, so a tracing may show an atrial spike before the P wave and a ventricular spike before the QRS, only one of the two, or fully intrinsic beats.
Sources
- Bernstein AD, Daubert JC, Fletcher RD, et al. The revised NASPE/BPEG generic code for antibradycardia, adaptive-rate, and multisite pacing. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 2002;25(2):260-264. doi.org/10.1046/j.1460-9592.2002.00260.x
- Safavi-Naeini P, Saeed M. Pacemaker troubleshooting: common clinical scenarios. Tex Heart Inst J. 2016;43(5):415-418. doi.org/10.14503/THIJ-16-5918
- Samesima N, God EG, Kruse JCL, et al. Brazilian Society of Cardiology guidelines on the analysis and issuance of electrocardiographic reports - 2022. Arq Bras Cardiol. 2022;119(4):638-680. doi.org/10.36660/abc.20220623
Last reviewed 2 October 2026. Every definition in the EKG Dictionary cites the guideline, consensus statement or original paper it comes from.