title: Changes in ventricular refractoriness after an extrastimulus: effects of prematurity, cycle length and procainamide.
abstract: This study was performed to determine the ability of extrastimuli to change ventricular refractoriness. We prospectively evaluated the effects of stimulus prematurity and paced cycle length (PCL) in 30 patients and the effect of procainamide in 8 patients on changes in the ventricular effective refractory period (ERP) after a right ventricular extrastimulus (S2). An S2 was introduced at preselected coupling intervals at a PCL (S1-S1) of 600 and 400 ms. At each S1-S2 interval, a second extrastimulus (S3) was introduced in 5-ms decrements and the ERP of S2 measured. The decrease in the ERP after an S2 was directly related to prematurity and most of the shortening occurred over a narrow range of S1-S2 intervals. At a PCL of 600 ms, the ERP of S2 at S1-S2 intervals less than or equal to 400 ms was significantly shorter than the ERP of S1 (maximal shortening 23%). At a PCL of 400 ms, the ERP of S2 at S1-S2 intervals less than or equal to 350 ms was significantly shorter than the ERP of S1 (maximal shortening 25%). The ERP of S2 at the shortest S1-S2 interval was greater with a PCL of 600 ms than with 400 ms (200 +/- 31 versus 180 +/- 26 ms, p less than 0.001). However, the total shortening in ERP (ERPS1 - ERPS2 at shortest S1-S2 interval) was similar at both PCLs (55 +/- 14 versus 59 +/- 13 ms). Procainamide significantly prolonged the ERP of S2 at each S1-S2 interval.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial; D004562:Electrocardiography; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005260:Female; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology; D006352:Heart Ventricles; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D011342:Procainamide; D012032:Refractory Period, Electrophysiological
chemical_list: D011342:Procainamide