Electrophysiological Basis for Supraventricular Arrhythmias

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Fifty-eight patients with isolated aortic stenosis who underwent open heart surgery during a three-year period had a 49% incidence of postoperative supraventricular arrhythmias (SVAs). Of the 22 patients under 20 years of age (group A), four (18%) had postoperative SVAs, in contrast to 24 of the 36 patients (66.7%) over 40 years of age (group B). The increase in SVAs in group B was due to increased frequency of atrial flutter-fibrillation. The electrophysiologic characteristics of the right atrial myocardium were normal in group A, but were markedly abnormal in group B. The diffuse spontaneous phase-4 depolarization, local conduction disturbances, and abnormal transmembrane action potential characteristics found in group B could result in multifocal ectopic pacemakers and reentry arrhythmias. Therefore, the majority of the postoperative SVAs in group B may be related to the preoperative cellular abnormalities of their right atrial myocardium.

This publication has 19 references indexed in Scilit: