Patent ID: 8055340

Claim:
A method for delivering anti-tachyarrhythmia therapy, comprising: generating an electrogram signal representing electrical activity in a cardiac chamber; detecting chamber senses and measuring a time interval between such senses to determine a current heart rate; detecting a tachyarrhythmia when the heart rate exceeds a specified tachycardia detection rate (TDR); upon detection of a tachyarrhythmia, delivering shock therapy if the heart rate is above a fibrillation detection rate (FDR); upon detection of a tachyarrhythmia below the FDR, delivering therapies in the following five-tiered sequence, where the sequence is stopped whenever the tachyarrhythmia is terminated: 1) neural stimulation, 2) anti-tachycardia pacing (ATP), 3) neural stimulation and ATP, 4) shock therapy, and 5) neural stimulation and shock therapy; recording the successes and failures of each therapy in terminating tachyarrhythmias for a plurality of heart rate ranges between the TDR and the FDR and computing a success/failure ratio for each therapy at each heart rate range; and, discontinuing a therapy from the sequence for a particular heart rate range if the success/failure ratio for a particular therapy at that particular heart rate range drops below a specified threshold value.