Effects of right atrial pacing preference in prevention of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: Atrial Pacing Preference study (APP study).
BACKGROUND
Several preliminary studies have indicated that atrial pacing can prevent atrial tachyarrhythmias. The suggested mechanisms by which pacing may be effective include suppression of premature atrial beats.


RESULTS
The Atrial Pacing Preference (APP; Guidant, St Paul, MN, USA) algorithm allows the pacemaker to maintain a pacing rate slightly higher than the sinus rate. The preventive effects of APP on paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) were studied in 51 patients (70+/-11 years). Nine patients did not complete the protocol. The pacemaker was programmed in random order to APP off and APP on at 3 different settings (ie, 8, 16 and 32 cycles) for 4 weeks each, using a cross-over design. Percentage atrial pacing was lower in APP off than at the other settings. Premature beat counts were greater in APP off than at the other settings. There was a significant difference in mode switch episode counts between APP off and the most effective setting (3,818+/-15,356 vs 596+/-1,719; p<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The APP algorithm is a promising method for preventing atrial tachyarrhythmia in patients with an implanted pacemaker and AF. Optimizing the setting of the APP algorithm is an important issue in the prevention of AF.
Ogawa
Hideyuki
H
Division of Cardiology, Yokohama City University Hospital, Yokohama, Japan. h-ogawa@fukuhp.yokohama-cu.ac.jp
Ishikawa
Toshiyuki
T
Matsushita
Kouhei
K
Matsumoto
Katsumi
K
Ishigami
Tomoaki
T
Sugano
Teruyasu
T
Uchino
Kazuaki
K
Umemura
Satoshi
S
Sumita
Shinichi
S
Kimura
Kazuo
K
Nakagawa
Takeshi
T
Shimizu
Makoto
M
Nishikawa
Hideo
H
Kasai
Atsunobu
A
Kioka
Yukio
Y
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000517:prevention & control*; D018880:Atrial Premature Complexes / Q000628:therapy; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012804:Sick Sinus Syndrome / Q000628:therapy; D013612:Tachycardia, Ectopic Atrial / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome