Shorter AV delays provide improved echocardiographic hemodynamics during exercise in patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy.
BACKGROUND
Although atrial ventricular (AV) intervals are often optimized at rest in patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), there are limited data on the impact of exercise on optimal AV interval.


METHODS
In 15 patients with CRT, AV intervals were serially programmed while patients were supine and at rest, and during exercise with heart rates that averaged 20 and 40 beats per minute above their resting rates. Echocardiographic Doppler images were acquired at each programmed AV interval and each rate. Three independent echocardiographic criteria were retrospectively used to determine each patient's optimal AV interval as a function of exercise-induced increased heart rates: the duration of left ventricular filling, stroke volume, and a clinical assessment of left ventricular function.


RESULTS
A negative correlation between the optimal AV interval and heart rate was observed across all patients using all three independent criterion: the maximum left ventricular filling time (slope =-0.77, intercept = 151.9, r = 0.55, P < 0.001), maximum stroke volume (slope =-0.93, intercept = 183.3, r = 0.50, P = 0.002), or the subjective clinical assessment (slope =-1.06, intercept = 182.0, r = 0.72, P < 0.001). Consistent trends were observed between all three parameters for 12 out of the 15 patients.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that in patients indicated for CRT, rate-adaptive functions may be useful to shorten AV intervals with increased rate, in order to maximize left ventricular filling, stroke volume, and clinical left ventricular function. Further studies are necessary to determine the clinical impact of these rate-adaptive algorithms.
Grimm
Richard A
RA
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio 44195, USA. grimmr@ccf.org
Sun
Jing Ping
JP
Agler
Deborah
D
Fitzgerald
Ben
B
Wilkoff
Bruce
B
Hilpisch
Kathryn
K
Perlic
George
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Chinchoy
Edward
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