Discrimination Between Ventricular and Supraventricular Tachycardia by Dual Chamber Cardioverter Defibrillators: Importance of the Atrial Sensing Function

Although the addition of atrial sensing in dual chamber ICDs may improve the ability of the device to discriminate between supraventricular (SVT) and ventricular tachycardia (VT), atrial sensing errors may also negatively affect tachycardia classification. This prospective study evaluated the incidence of atrial sensing errors in a dual chamber ICD and their impact on VT/SVT discrimination. In 145 patients, a dual chamber ICD (Defender) was implanted. Analysis of 1,241 tachycardia episodes stored during a mean follow-up of 14+/-8 months revealed atrial sensing errors in 817 (66%) episodes. Upon expert review, device-based classification was confirmed in 509 (98%) of 522 SVT episodes. No false device-based SVT classification was related to atrial sensing errors. Of 719 episodes classified as VT by the device, 645 (90%) were confirmed. There were 74 episodes of false-positive VT detection. Of these, 63 were related to atrial sensing errors: atrial undersensing in 58 (92%) and atrial oversensing in 5 (8%) episodes. Atrial sensing errors led to incorrect VT/SVT discrimination in 51 (4%) of 1,241 episodes. Only the occurrence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and abdominal site of device implantation showed a significant influence on false VT/SVT discrimination. Atrial sensing errors are frequently encountered in dual chamber ICDs. Due to the VT/SVT discrimination algorithm, atrial sensing errors only led to misclassification in 4 % of all episodes, mainly due to atrial undersensing. No VT underdetection due to atrial oversensing occurred.