Patent ID: 8135464

Claim:
For use with an implantable system, a method for painlessly reducing a patient's ventricular rate during a supra ventricular tachycardia (SVT), comprising: (a) programming a cardiac fat pad stimulation amplitude that is lower than a level at which the patient will feel pain; (b) monitoring for a SVT; and (c) painlessly reducing the ventricular rate in response to detecting a SVT by, (c.1) delivering a pacing pulse to a ventricle during a refractory period following an intrinsic ventricular activation, to thereby extend the refractory period; and (c.2) prior to the next intrinsic ventricular activation, delivering a burst of stimulation to one or more cardiac fat pad that innervates at least one of atrioventricular (AV) node tissue and ventricular tissue, to slow AV node conduction, wherein an amplitude of the burst of stimulation is the programmed cardiac fat pad stimulation amplitude that is lower than the level at which the patient will feel pain.