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33rd International Congress on Electrocardiology

International Society of Electrocardiology

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Analysis Of Atrial Fibrillation Cycle Length From High-Resolution Surface Electrocardiograms Using A New Ecg System

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  • corresponding author presenting/speaker H. Grubitzsch - Klinik für Kardiovaskuläre Chirurgie, Berlin, Germany
  • D. Modersohn - Klinik für Kardiovaskuläre Chirurgie, Berlin, Germany
  • W. Haverkamp - Klinik für Kardiologie, Berlin, Germany
  • T. Leuthold - getemed AG, Teltow, Germany
  • W. Konertz - Klinik für Kardiovaskuläre Chirurgie, Berlin, Germany

33rd International Congress on Electrocardiology. Cologne, 28.06.-01.07.2006. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2007. Doc06ice037

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/ice2006/06ice037.shtml

Published: February 8, 2007

© 2007 Grubitzsch et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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Question: Evaluation and quantification of atrial electrical remodelling is a central issue in atrial fibrillation (AF) research. Algorithms for assessment of AF cycle length (AFCL) from surface ECG have been developed. We evaluated a new commercially available ECG system with that technology for fibrillatory rate analysis in AF patients.

Method used: From September 2004 to June 2005, 48 patients (21 male; age 68±10.0 years) with permanent AF underwent 12-lead high-gain, high-resolution ECG recording (CardioLink (R), getemed AG, Teltow, Germany). After QRST cancellation fast-Fourier transformation was performed in order to identify the frequency content of the fibrillating atria. Signal quality, peak frequency component, and inter-lead as well as temporal variability of mean fibrillatory rate were investigated.

Results: Signal analysis revealed excellent quality frequency spectra in leads V1 (87% of recordings), II (78%), and V2 (70%). Spectra in V1 were characterized by unimodal peak distribution with a spectral width of 6±4.8 fibrillations per minute (fpm) and 16±10.0 fpm at 90% and 75% of the maximum amplitude, respectively. Mean fibrillatory rate in V1 (393±40.4 fpm) correlated significantly with V2 (391±43.3 fpm; r=0.976) and II (379±41.1 fpm; r=0.878). With an interval of 13.6±3.84 minutes mean fibrillatory rate in V1 was stable in 27 patients (400±51.2 fpm vs. 398±49.4 fpm; n.s.).

Conclusion: Processing of surface electrocardiograms recorded by the CardioLink (R) system can be used for AFCL analysis. Temporal and inter-lead stability of mean fibrillatory rate could be demonstrated. We conclude that the system is capable of assessing atrial fibrillatory activity from standard surface leads facilitating detailed investigation in AF patients.