Permanent cardiac pacing in South African Blacks.

Fifty-seven Black patients received permanent cardiac pacemakers at Baragwanath Hospital, Johannesburg, over a 7 1/2-year period. Most patients had established complete heart block (77%), while very few had intermittent conduction disorders or sinus node dysfunction. In most patients the cause of the conduction disease was unknown but was probably primary degeneration of the conducting pathways (Lenègre's disease); 2 patients underwent insertion of a pacemaker after myocardial infarction, 4 had congestive cardiomyopathy and 4 had valve disease and/or had previously undergone valve replacement. Seventeen patients (30%) were hypertensive. The results of cardiac pacing have been very good and the complication rate is low. Cardiac conduction disorders requiring insertion of a permanent cardiac pacemaker are not infrequent in South African Blacks, despite the absence or rarity of coronary artery disease in this population.