Induced atrial arrhythmias showed no significant differences in cycle length or mean amplitude compared to spontaneous episodes, with 78% of patients having a matching spontaneous episode.
Observational (n=82)
Do induced atrial tachyarrhythmias predict the morphology (cycle length and amplitude) of future spontaneous atrial episodes in patients with a history of AT/AF?
Induced atrial arrhythmias have similar cycle lengths and amplitudes to spontaneous episodes, suggesting they can predict future spontaneous episode morphology and help identify patients who may benefit from atrial antitachycardia pacing.
INTRODUCTION: This retrospective study investigated whether induced episodes could be used to predict the morphology of future spontaneous atrial episodes. METHODS: Eighty-two patients (64 +/- 12 years; 77% male; CAD in 60%; left ventricular ejection fraction 45 +/- 16%) with a history of atrial tachycardia or atrial fibrillation (AT/AF) were implanted with a dual-chamber implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and followed for 6 months. A total of 224 episodes of induced and spontaneous AT/AF were classified into type I, II, and III according to the method of Israel et al. and then compared based on average cycle length (CL) and atrial amplitude. Episodes were also grouped as "pace-terminable" or "nonpace-terminable" based on the CL definition of Gillis et al. RESULTS: The analysis of 121 induced episodes (from 80 patients) and 103 spontaneous episodes (from 43 patients) showed that within each arrhythmia type, there were no significant differences in CL or mean amplitude between induced and spontaneous episodes. Additional analysis of patients that had both induced and spontaneous episodes (n = 41) showed 78% had at least one spontaneous episode that matched the induced episode. Fifty-seven percent of spontaneous episodes were considered to be pace-terminable based on CL. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that there is no significant difference between induced and spontaneous episodes of AT/AF of the same type. The majority of patients had at least one spontaneous episode of the same type as the induced episode, showing that induced atrial arrhythmias may be useful in predicting the morphology of future spontaneous episodes and in identifying patients potentially benefiting from atrial antitachycardia pacing.
Wollmann et al. (Tue,) conducted a observational in Atrial tachycardia or atrial fibrillation (n=82). Induced atrial tachyarrhythmias vs. Spontaneous atrial tachyarrhythmias was evaluated on Cycle length and atrial amplitude. Induced atrial arrhythmias showed no significant differences in cycle length or mean amplitude compared to spontaneous episodes, with 78% of patients having a matching spontaneous episode.