Patent ID: 7957802

Claim:
A medical system, comprising: one or more electrodes for delivering pacing pulses to a patient's heart; an energy delivery and sensing unit coupled to the one or more electrodes; a pulmonary artery pressure sensor capable of making pulmonary artery pressure measurements; a memory configured to store at least the pulmonary artery pressure measurements; and a controller coupled to the memory, the pulmonary artery pressure sensor, and the energy delivery and sensing unit, the controller configured to, vary, for each repetition of an acute burst protocol, a parameter of pacing applied to the patient's heart via the energy delivery and sensing unit during the acute burst protocol; store the pulmonary artery pressure measurements made during the repetitions of the acute burst protocol; and provide pacing therapy using a value of the parameter that is selected based on an optimum ventricular preload that is determined via the stored pulmonary artery pressure measurements; wherein a length of the repetitions is chosen so that the patient's baroreflex system does not adjust to the varied parameter of pacing during the repetitions of the acute burst protocol.