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The prognostic implications of asymptomatic bradycardia in older patients are unclear. To correlate asymptomatic bradycardia with associated electrocardiographic findings and outcomes in this population, investigators at a single institution examined all electrocardiograms obtained in outpatients aged >60 during 1990–1995. The researchers compared the clinical need for pacemaker implantation and mortality in patients with asymptomatic bradycardia (heart rates <55 beats/minute without pacemaker implantation during the subsequent 2 weeks) and in those with normal heart rates (60–70 beats/minute).
Of 2560 patients, 470 had asymptomatic bradycardia. During a mean of 7.2 years of follow-up, patients with asymptomatic bradycardia had significantly…