Entrainment and interruption of atrial flutter with atrial pacing: studies in man following open heart surgery.
- 1 November 1977
- journal article
- abstracts
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Circulation
- Vol. 56 (5), 737-745
- https://doi.org/10.1161/01.cir.56.5.737
Abstract
To examine the question of why the pacing rate and duration of atrial pacing are crucial factors in the successful interruption of atrial flutter, studies were performed on 30 patients in the period following open heart surgery. In each patient the diagnosis of atrial flutter was made using a pair of wire electrodes placed on the right atrial epicardium at the time of operation and brought out through the anterior chest wall. The same electrodes were used for atrial pacing. Pacing faster than the spontaneous rate of the atrial flutter which failed to interrupt the atrial flutter was associated with transient entrainment of the atrial flutter up to the atrial pacing rate. Atrial flutter was interrupted successfully when the atria were paced at a rate which was too fast for the atrial flutter to follow. This was heralded by the conversion of previously negative flutter waves to positive atrial complexes in ECG lead II. When pacing the atria at a constant rate, 2-22 seconds with a mean of 10 seconds were required to interrupt the atrial flutter.Keywords
This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit:
- Treatment of arrhythmias by intracardiac electrical stimulationProgress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 1974
- Initiation of Sustained Rhythmic Activity by Single Propagated Action Potentials in Canine Cardiac Purkinje Fibers Exposed to Sodium-Free Solution or to OuabainCirculation Research, 1974
- The contribution of artificial pacemaking to understanding the pathogenesis of arrhythmiasThe American Journal of Cardiology, 1971
- Epicardial excitation of the atria in a patient with atrial flutter.Heart, 1971
- P waves and P loops in coronary sinus and left atrial rhythmsAmerican Heart Journal, 1970
- Simulation of atrial flutter by rapid coronary sinus pacingAmerican Heart Journal, 1969
- Left atrial rhythm: Analysis by intra-atrial electrocardiogram and the vectorcardiogramThe American Journal of Cardiology, 1968
- Termination of atrial flutter by rapid electrical pacing of the atriumThe American Journal of Cardiology, 1967
- Left atrial impulse formation in atrial flutter.Heart, 1967
- The experimental production of coronary sinus rhythm in manAmerican Heart Journal, 1965