Sinus Arrest or Sinus pause

Sinus Arrest or Sinus pause

Sinus arrest or sinus pause occurs when sinus node’s principal pacemaker cells fail to fire. To qualify as a pause, it should be more than 1.5 times the basic cycle length. The pause is not an exact multiple of preceding PP interval. If it is an exact multiple, it will qualify for diagnosis of an SA block. Pauses more than 3 seconds are rarely normal. The pauses can be symptomatic or asymptomatic. Asymptomatic pauses more than 2 seconds in duration, but less than 3 seconds have been noted in 11% of normal individuals on 24-hour Holter monitoring, especially in trained athletes. Prolonged sinus arrest or sinus pause is usually a manifestation of sick sinus syndrome.