The coherence spectrum. A quantitative discriminator of fibrillatory and nonfibrillatory cardiac rhythms.

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Abstract
Previous work has suggested that a comparison of electrograms from two or more sites may best differentiate fibrillatory from nonfibrillatory rhythms. The coherence spectrum is a measure by which two signals may be compared quantitatively in the frequency domain. In the present study, the coherence spectrum was used to quantify the relation between spectral components of electrograms from two sites in either the atrium or ventricle during both fibrillatory and nonfibrillatory rhythms. Bipolar recordings of 35 rhythms from 20 patients were analyzed for coherence in the 1-59 Hz band. The 17 nonfibrillatory rhythms were sinus rhythm (six), paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (two), atrial flutter (four), and monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (five). The 18 fibrillatory rhythms were atrial fibrillation (12) and ventricular fibrillation (six). Nonfibrillatory rhythms exhibited moderate-to-high levels of coherence throughout the 1-59 Hz band, with peaks concentrated at the rhythm's fundamental frequency a...