title: A comparison of P-wave duration and dispersion in patients with short-term and long-term atrial fibrillation.
abstract: This study compared P-wave duration and dispersion (PD) in patients with short-term (<or=48 hours) and long-term (>48 hours) atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardioversion. We studied 96 consecutive patients with short-term (group A; n:51, age: 61 +/- 11 years) and long-term AF (group B; n:45, age: 64 +/- 10 years). P-wave measurements were calculated from 12-lead electrocardiogram. There was no difference related to clinical characteristics. Left atrial dimension was significantly higher in group B (P =.003). P maximum (124 +/- 12 vs. 113 +/- 11 ms, P =.001) and PD (57 +/- 8 vs. 49 +/- 9 ms, P =.001) were also significantly longer in group B compared with group A, but P minimum did not. In univariate analysis, PD were related to AF duration (P =.002) and left atrial size (P =.02). This relation remained in multivariate analysis (P =.01, P =.02, respectively). P maximum >112 ms and PD >47 ms had accuracy values of 74% and 83% respectively for separating group B. Our results suggest that P wave duration and dispersion is prolonged in patients with long-term AF compared to short-term AF.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Sevket Demirel Heart Center, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey. adogan35@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: Gurkan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gedikli
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ozaydin
authors.forename: Cem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nazli
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Altinbas
authors.forename: Oktay
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ergene
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000503:physiopathology; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D011930:Reaction Time; D013997:Time Factors