Patent ID: 7231250

Claim:
A method of setting or adjusting a cardiac pacemaker in a patient diagnosed with cardiac asynchrony, which method comprises the steps of: i) implanting cardiac pacing wires into at least the right ventricle and the left ventricle of the heart of the patient, ii) continuously monitoring and recording the cardiac output, nominal stroke volume and/or arterial pressure of the patient on a beat-by-beat basis, iii) continuously monitoring and recording the respiratory cycle of the patient, and iv) adjusting the conduction delay between the electronic impulses to the cardiac pacing wires until a synchronization of respiratory changes with changes in the cardiac output, stroke volume or arterial pressure of the patient is obtained, wherein when the synchronization of respiratory changes with changes in the cardiac output, stroke volume or arterial pressure of the patient is obtained, the optimal setting of the pacemaker is then determined by monitoring the stroke volume or arterial pulse pressure variation of the heart and selecting a pacemaker setting which provides an increased ventricle pre-load responsiveness.