After the introduction of temporary transcutaneous cardiac pacing by Paul Zoll in 1952, and of the temporary endocardial approach by Seymour Furman in the USA in 1958, the first definitive electronic pacemaker was implanted by Senning and Elmqvist in Sweden on 8 October 1958 using a thoracotomy to suture two epicardial electrodes. Actually, the ‘definitive’ unit placed in the abdominal wall of the pacemaker recipient, Arne Larsson, fired for only three hours. The first replacement, done the following morning, was followed by more than 22 units and numerous surgical interventions until Mr Larsson died in 2001.
1 Despite all the initial technical and medical failures, the daily resuscitations of this patient caused by recurrent AV block were over and Mr Larsson could be discharged after several months of hospitalisation to resume his daily life and activities. For the Netherlands, the D Day of this cardiac electrotherapy was 3 January 1962 when the cardiac surgeon Professor G. Brom of the University Hospital Leiden implanted the first permanent epicardial pacemaker, soon followed by implantations by Professor Homan van der Heide in the University Hospital Groningen and afterwards in many general hospitals. For detailed information about the early days of cardiac pacing in our country, see the following pages of this issue. …
