title: Value of the atrial signal-averaged electrocardiogram in identifying patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
abstract: Atrial signal-averaged electrocardiogram was compared between 25 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and 20 healthy persons without atrial arrhythmias (control). The duration time of the high frequency (50-250 Hz) P wave was significantly (P less than 0.01) prolonged in the groups of patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation compared with the control group (116 +/- 16.4 versus 92 +/- 8.1 msec). The diagnostic value of the duration of the high frequency P wave for identifying patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was 104 msec. Using this criterion, a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 90% were achieved. Our observation has shown that the atrial signal-averaged electrocardiogram is a useful technique for identifying patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Medical Academy, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Opolski
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stanisławska
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Słomka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kraska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004562:Electrocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000503:physiopathology; D006334:Heart Function Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted