Occurrence of implantable defibrillator events in patients with syncope and nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.
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Publications and source records attributed to D Callans.
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Atrial activation from a site in the low lateral right atrium will typically proceed in a superior direction. We present a case of a low lateral right atrial tachycardia with a surface electrocardiographic P wave morphology that appeared to have an inferiorly directed axis. The tachycardia occurred 2 years after successful atrial flutter ablation. The use of a multipolar basket catheter allowed confirmation of the focal origin of the tachycardia, permitted its rapid localization, facilitated catheter ablation, and provided clues to atrial activation that helped describe the appearance of the P wave.
Intracardiac echocardiography using a new 9-MHz ultrasound catheter was performed in 30 patients undergoing percutaneous catheter mapping and radiofrequency ablation of a tachyarrhythmia, because the imaging capabilities with this intracardiac echocardiographic catheter permit detailed identification of normal and abnormal cardiac anatomy with improved imaging depth. Intracardiac echocardiography is of significant clinical utility during ablation for guiding interatrial septal puncture, assessing placement and contact of mapping/ablation catheters, monitoring ablation lesion morphologic changes, and diagnosing procedure-related complications.
Uniform success for ablation of focal atrial tachycardias has been difficult to achieve using standard catheter mapping and ablation techniques. In addition, our understanding of the complex relationship between atrial anatomy, electrophysiology, and surface ECG P wave morphology remains primitive. The magnetic electroanatomical mapping and display system (CARTO) offers an on-line display of electrical activation and/or signal amplitude related to the anatomical location of the recorded sites in the mapped chamber. A window of electrical interest is established based on signals timed from an electrical reference that usually represents a fixed electrogram recording from the coronary sinus or the atrial appendage. This window of electrical interest is established to include atrial activation prior to the onset of the P wave activity associated with the site of origin of a focal atrial tachycardia. Anatomical and electrical landmarks are defined with limited fluoroscopic imaging support and more detailed global chamber and more focal atrial mapping can be performed with minimal fluoroscopic guidance. A three-dimensional color map representing atrial activation or voltage amplitude at the magnetically defined anatomical sites is displayed with on-line data acquisition. This display can be manipulated to facilitate viewing from any angle. Altering the zoom control, triangle fill threshold, clipping plane, or color range can all enhance the display of a more focal area of interest. We documented the feasibility of using this single mapping catheter technique for localizing and ablating focal atrial tachycardias. In a consecutive series of 8 patients with 9 focal atrial tachycardias, the use of the single catheter CARTO mapping system was associated with ablation success in all but one patient who had a left atrial tachycardia localized to the medial aspect of the orifice of the left atrial appendage. Only low power energy delivery was used in this patient because of the unavailability of temperature monitoring in the early version of the Navistar catheter, the location of the arrhythmia, and the history of arrhythmia control with flecainide. No attempt was made to limit fluoroscopy time in our study population. Nevertheless, despite data acquisition from 120-320 anatomically distinct sites during global and more detailed focal atrial mapping, total fluoroscopy exposure was typically < 30 minutes and was as little as 12 minutes. The detailed display capabilities of the CARTO system appear to offer the potential of enhancing our understanding of atrial anatomy, atrial activation, and their relationship to surface ECG P wave morphology during focal atrial tachycardias.
BACKGROUND: Selective ablation of either the fast of the slow pathway resulting in cure of AV nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) has led to the concept that these pathways are discrete, anatomically defined structures. We hypothesized that if a discrete retrograde fast pathway exists, it should be possible to record a single focus of early atrial activation near the apex of Koch's triangle, with sequential spread of depolarization to the rest of the atria. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated 46 patients (33 women, 13 men; mean age, 45 +/- 17 years) undergoing electrophysiology study and catheter ablation for typical AVNRT. Retrograde atrial activation during AVNRT (337 +/- 43 ms) and ventricular pacing at a similar cycle length (352 +/- 51 ms) was recorded in the region of Koch's triangle with a decapolar catheter in the His bundle position, a multipolar catheter in the coronary sinus, and a deflectable quadripolar catheter along the tricuspid annulus anterior to the coronary sinus ostium. Earliest atrial activation was recorded at the apex of the triangle of Koch in 38 patients during ventricular pacing and in 43 patients during AVNRT. A broad wave front of atrial activation was recorded in 17 patients during ventricular pacing and in 26 patients during AVNRT. During AVNRT, only 2 patients had a single early site with focal and sequential activation along the tendon of Todaro. There was concordance in the pattern of atrial activation between ventricular pacing and AVNRT in only 21 of 46 patients. CONCLUSIONS: Retrograde atrial activation over the fast pathway is heterogeneous within Koch's triangle and the coronary sinus, both for the entire population and for individual patients during different modes of activation. These data do not support the concept of an anatomically discrete retrograde fast pathway.
Sophisticated diagnostic information is provided by the latest generation of implantable defibrillators. The success of therapy and the type of therapy successful in terminating ventricular arrhythmias is provided by interrogating the ICD device. In addition, R to R interval information can be retrieved. In selected devices, either local bipolar electrograms from the rate sensing leads or wide bipolar electrograms from the energy delivering leads provide visual confirmation of the presence of ventricular tachyarrthythmic events leading to therapy. The value and limitations of this sophisticated diagnostic information in providing insight into the electrical events triggering therapy and the events triggering ventricular arrhythmias are discussed.