Pacemaker and Device Clinic

Pacemaker Clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General focuses on the management of single chamber and dual chamber devices implanted by ZSFG interventional cardiology physicians.

However, we also work with individuals whose pacemakers were implanted by other healthcare systems, either in the United States or abroad. Device consultations are especially useful when primary care and specialty teams consider their patients for magnetic resonance imaging, radiation therapy, or procedures needing electrocautery.

Zio patch (iRhythm) ambulatory ECG monitors available through the ZSFG non-invasive cardiology laboratory provide convenient assessment of heart rhythm for up to 14 days. When a sustained search for arrhythmia is requested for conditions such as cryptogenic stroke or unexplained syncope, patient are scheduled for an implantable loop recorder (ILR) in the cardiac catheterization laboratory and regular interrogation by Device Clinic physicians for up to 2 years, until a heart rhythm disorder is either identified or excluded.

ZSFG Pacemaker and Device Clinic physicians are available to identify and interrogate implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) from other facilities. However, adjustments of device parameters are performed by UCSF Cardiac Electrophysiology Clinic staff and physicians. Requests for management of biventricular pacemakers/defibrillators (CRT-P and CRT-D) are similarly referred to the UCSF Cardiac Electrophysiology Clinic team.