Patent ID: 8401642

Claim:
A cardiac device, comprising: pulse generators for incorporation into one or more pacing channels for delivering pacing pulses to one or more myocardial sites; a controller programmed to operate the device in either a normal operating mode or an intermittent pacing therapy (IPT) mode; wherein, in the IPT mode, the controller is programmed to deliver paces to the one or more myocardial sites using a pacing mode that results in some degree of ventricular dyssynchrony as compared with the normal operating mode; a sensor for measuring blood pressure; wherein the controller is programmed to: establish timed duty cycles for delivering IPT; measure a baseline value for the measured blood pressure during normal sinus rhythm when no IPT is being delivered; switch to the IPT mode as scheduled by the timed duty cycle if the measured blood pressure is stable and within a specified range of the baseline value; continue to monitor the measured blood pressure during delivery of IPT and, if the measured blood pressure stabilizes at an IPT-induced value lower than the baseline value, switch to the normal mode; and, continue to monitor the measured blood pressure during the normal mode and, when the measured blood pressure returns to a value that is within a predetermined range of the baseline value, switch to IPT mode if the duty cycle has not expired.