title: The prognostic significance of atrial arrhythmias recorded early after cardioversion for atrial fibrillation.
abstract: In a substantial number of patients, AF recurs after successful electrical cardioversion. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the atrial arrhythmias recorded immediately after cardioversion are associated with the risk of recurrence of the arrhythmia and to compare the prognostic significance of this parameter with that of other established risk factors. In a series of 71 patients, the risk factors for recurrence of AF during the first year after successful electrical cardioversion were analyzed. A new parameter that was investigated was the frequency of atrial premature beats and the presence of runs of supraventricular tachycardia in the Holter recording started immediately after the cardioversion. Age, left atrial size, left ventricular systolic function, duration of the arrhythmia before cardioversion, underlying cardiac disease, or medication taken were not found to be predictive of recurrence of the arrhythmia. However, the natural logarithm of the number of atrial premature complexes per hour of the Holter recording in the 37 patients in whom AF recurred was higher compared to that of the 34 patients who maintained sinus rhythm (P < 0.0005). The same was true if only the first 6 hours of the recording were analyzed (P < 0.0005). There was a trend for more frequent arrhythmia recurrence if runs of supraventricular tachycardia were present. The finding of > 10 atrial premature complexes per hour in the recording had a relative risk of 2.57 (1.51-4.37), a positive predictive accuracy of 76.5%, and a negative predictive accuracy of 70.3% for subsequent arrhythmia recurrence. We can conclude that frequent (> 10/hour) atrial premature complexes in the Holter recording after electrical cardioversion for AF is a significant risk factor for recurrence of the arrhythmia.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Cardiology, Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Syngrou Ave, 356, Kallithea-Athens 176 74, Greece. maounis@yahoo.com
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maounis
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kyrozi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katsaros
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bilianou
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Vassilikos
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Manolis
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cokkinos
mesh_terms: D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000628:therapy*; D004554:Electric Countershock; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D013997:Time Factors