Clinical Evaluation of Automatic Tachycardia Diagnosis by an Implanted Device

Reliable discrimination between sinus tachycardia (ST) and pathologic tachycardia has been a major problem for automatic implantable antitachycardia devices. In patients whose sinus response to activity is as rapid or faster than their pathologic tachycardia (rate crossover), these unsophisticated devices deliver the programmed tachycardia response to either the pathologic or sinus tachycardia. Over a one-year period, 50 Intermedics Intertach Model 262–12 antitachycardia pulse generators were implanted to evaluate the specificity of a new group of tachycardia recognition algorithms. Patients were subjected to exercise testing and noninvasive programmed stimulation to demonstrate the efficacy of this new approach. The five recognition algorithms tested were various combinations of the following criteria: high rate HR), sudden onset (SO), rate stability (RS), and sustained high rate (SHR). False positive rates (tachycardia response inappropriately triggered by ST) were as follows: HR (93%); HR + SO (3%); HR + RS (63%); HR + (RS or SHR) (87%); HR + HS + SO (8%). Pair-wise significance testing between HR only and HR + SO (p < 0.001), HR + RS (p = 0.01) and HR + SO + RS (p < 0.001), demonstrated a significant reduction in the rate of false positives through the use of the sudden onset and rate stability criteria in concert with the standard high rate criterion.     

Pleomorphic Ventricular Tachycardia: Demonstration of Conduction Reversal Within the Reentry Circuit

A case is presented of a patient with incessant venfricular tacbycardia of left bundle branch block morphology. Endocardial mapping revealed the site of earliest activation during tachycardia to be the proximal right ventricular septum. Pacing at this site elicited the clinical tachycardia, whereas pacing at the proximal left ventricular septum induced a right bundle branch block morphology identical to that of a previously recorded spontaneous ventricuiar tachycardia. Electrophysiological evidence is given that both types of tachycardia originate from a single reentry circuit located in the proximal ventricular septum in which the reentrant wavefront may travel either orthodromically (during spontaneous tachycardia and right ventricular pacing) or antidromically (during left ventricular pacing).     

Alteration of Human Placental Vascular Tone by Antiarrhythmic Medications In Vitro

Antiarrhythmic and Placental Vessels. Introduction : Antiarrhythmic medications are commonly used during pregnancy for treatment of maternal or fetal arrhythmias, but little is known about their effect on human placental vascular tone and, consequently, placental blood flow. The objective of this study was to evaluate the tone responses caused by antiarrhythmic medications in human placental vessels from normal term pregnancies in vitro.
Methods and Results : Isolated human placental arteries and veins from uncomplicated term pregnancies incubated in Krebs'-bicarbonate under 5% oxygen/5% carbon dioxide/balance nitrogen (PO₂ 35 to 38 torr) were exposed to cumulative doses of quinidine, procainamide, lidocaine, flecainide, propranolol, amiodarone, verapamil, digoxin, and adenosine after submaximal contraction with 5-hydroxytryptamine. The study was conducted both in the presence and absence of endothelium. The addition of the tested medications caused a significant, dose-dependent relaxation of human placental arteries and veins except for adenosine, which induced a sustained, dose-dependent contraction of human placental vessels regardless of the presence or absence of tone. Removal of the endothelium did not alter these responses.
Conclusions : Based on these results, the medications tested should have no decremental effect on placental blood flow, with the possible exception of adenosine, which causes significant. dosedependent contraction of human placental vessels in vitro. Should similar contraction be present in vivo, it may have an adverse effect on the fetus when administering adenosine to pregnant women at term or during labor.     

Atypical Form of the Fourth Criterion for Transient Entrainment

The typical fourth criterion for transient entrainment is defined when both a sudden shortening in conduction interval to and a distinct change in electrogram morphology at a bipolar recording site are demonstrated while performing overdrive pacing of a reentrant tachycardia from a single pacing site at two different constant rates. The purpose of this article was to test the hypothesis that if an intracardiac recording site showing both orthodromic and antidromic capture with entrainment pacing is located suitably distant from the circuit, sudden shortening in conduction interval to that site may occur without any significant change in the bipolar electrogram morphology (i.e., atypical form of the fourth criterion). Atrial overdrive pacing of orthodromic tachycardia was performed in 20 patients with either left anterior (12 patients) or left posterior (8 patients) accessory pathways. We investigated the effects of overdrive pacing from the proximal or distal coronary sinus, specifically effects on the electrogram interval and the electrogram morphology at the right atrial appendage. Overdrive pacing of orthodromic tachycardia from the proximal coronary sinus was performed in 10 of the 12 patients with left anterior accessory pathways; those 10 patients demonstrated the first entrainment criterion at the right atrial appendage site. Overdrive pacing of orthodromic tachycardia at still shorter cycle lengths demonstrated a sudden shortening in conduction interval to the right atrial appendage site. Despite shortening in conduction interval the morphology of the right atrial appendage electrogram was completely or almost identical to that during orthodromic tachycardia, indicating an atypical form of the fourth criterion. This criterion was not demonstrated in patients with left posterior accessory pathways. Thus, atypical fourth entrainment criterion was demonstrated during overdrive pacing of orthodromic tachycardia from the proximal coronary sinus only in patients with left anterior accessory path ways. Demonstration of atypical fourth criterion seems largely dependent on the location of the accessory pathway, the pacing, and the recording sites.     

Conversion of Ouabain-Induced Ventricular Tachycardia in Dogs with Epicardial Lidocaine: Pharmacodynamics and Functional Effects

Epicardial antiarrhythmic drug administration was studied as a therapeutic approach for experimental ventricular tachycardia (VT) in an open-chest dog model. Lidocaine-polyurethane matrices (28%, w/w) were formulated as a model system. Matrices were placed on the left ventricular epicardium in each of 23 anesthetized open-chest dogs with ouabain-induced VT, to evaluate effectiveness in restoring sinus rhythm. Conversion occurred in all animals treated with matrices containing 300 mg or more of lidocaine after 1.5 to 7.0 min. The matrix lidocaine content correlated linearly with the time required for conversion to sinus rhythm (r = 0.75, P = 0.0002); irrespective of matrix size the myocardial/plasma lidocaine ratio was 20.1 ± 4.2 (mean ± SD) at the time of conversion. In a separate series of five dogs without ventricular tachycardia, systolic wall thickening measured with sonomicrometers after 5 min of controlled-release lidocaine administration (500- to 1000-mg matrix lidocaine content, 7.48 ± 3.49-mg/kg dose) was only minimally diminished (–14.1%) and this effect was observed only at the site of matrix placement on the anterior-apical epicardium. In contrast, intracoronary injection of 0.3 or 1.0 mg/kg of lidocaine-HCl resulted in complete elimination of wall thickening or replacement by systolic thinning. Thus epicardial administration of lidocaine from polyurethane matrices was an effective means of treating ouabain-induced ventricular tachycardia. Regional myocardial function in the vicinity of the matrices was modified to a very limited degree, supporting the view that the matrices can be used safely, without serious risk to ventricular contractile performance.     

Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator/Permanent Pacemaker Interaction: Loss of Pacemaker Capture Following AICD Discharge

A 78-year-old man treated with amiodarone for recurrent ventricular tachycardia, had sequential placement of a bipolar VVI pacemaker and an automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD). During defibrillation threshold testing, there was failure to capture of the pacer in the post-shock period. The time of failure to capture appeared energy-related: the greater the energy delivered, the longer the failure to capture. Careful attention will be necessary in constructing combined AICD/pacemaker units.     

旁道位置与室上性心动过速首次发作时年龄及性别的关系探讨

目的为了解旁道位置与室上性心动过速初次发作时年龄及性别的关系.方法对128例已进行过射频消融的患者进行了回顾性分析.结果男性左侧旁道发病时平均年龄大于右侧及中隔旁道平均为14岁和9岁;大于女性左侧旁道7岁,男性显性旁道发病时平均年龄小于隐匿性旁道7岁.而女性显性旁道与隐匿性旁道、左侧旁道与右侧旁道发病时平均年龄无显著性差异.结论旁道位置与室上速初次发作时年龄及性别有关.     

药物浓度和病因对三磷酸腺苷治疗阵发性室上性心动过速的影响

本文报告23例次ATP治疗PSVT的效果,总有效率56.5％,9例次高浓度快速注射者8例转复。器质性心脏病者副作用较多,1例冠心速注高浓度ATP后,发生心室颤动和阿-斯氏综合征。这一结果提示:药物浓度和注射速度是影响疗效的主要因素,PSVT伴AVB者疗效也很低;病因和药物浓度是决定副作用的因素。因此,对于器质性心脏病者,尤其冠心病人,应避免高浓度快速静脉注射ATP。     

The effect of myocardial preservation technique on supraventricular tachycardia following aortic valve replacement

We studied 100 patients who underwent an isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR) between 1974 and 1991. The patients were divided into the following two groups and compared: group A, which consisted of 40 patients operated on before 1978 who underwent continuous left coronary perfusion with blood; and group B, which consisted of 60 patients operated on after 1979 in whom St. Thomas solution was used in combination with topical cardiac cooling. Moreover, we divided the group B patients into two subgroups: group Bl, who underwent AVR before 1986 during which we administered St. Thomas solution with ice slush every 30 min; and group B2, who had AVR after 1986 in which we used St. Thomas solution with a cold saline (4°C) solution and treated with a small amount of slushed ice every 15 min. The incidence of supraventricular tachycardias was 15% in group A, 50% in group BI, and 15% in group B2. The severity of preoperative New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class, the type of valve lesions, cardiothoracic ratio, left ventricular function, aortic clamp time, bypass time, and use of drugs did not correlate with the incidence of supraventricular tachycardias in either group A or B. In group B2 patients, we paid a lot of attention to cooling the right atrium as well as the left ventricle by immersing the whole heart using a 4°C saline solution, which led to a remarkable reduction of the incidence of supraventricular tachycardia. This fact indicates that right atrial preservation is one of the most important factors for reducing the incidence of supraventricular tachycardia.     

A Hemodynamically Responsive Antitachycardia System: Theoretical Bases for Design

Current antitachycardia systems such as the automatic implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (AICD), detect tachyarrhythmias primarily by sensing rate and thereby perform inadequately in differentiating hemodynamically stable from unstable arrhythmias. As a result, these devices may discharge during stable tachycardias (such as sinus tachycardia), causing discomfort to the patient and depleting the device's limited energy supply. If a parameter which could reflect the particular hemodynamic state of a tachycardia were incorporated into the sensing algorithm of these systems, function may be more hemodynamically precise and discharge specificity may be improved.