Predicting the efficacy of antiarrhythmic agents for interrupting persistent atrial fibrillation according to spectral analysis of the fibrillation waves on the surface ECG.
BACKGROUND
Spectral analysis of the fibrillation waves was performed in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (PAF) to clarify the usefulness of this method of predicting the efficacy of antiarrhythmic agents.


RESULTS
The 59 patients with PAF were randomly assigned to pilsicainide (150 mg/day) or bepridil (200 mg/day) therapy for 4 weeks under optimal anticoagulation therapy. When the first therapy did not interrupt PAF, the drugs were changed in a cross-over manner. The fibrillation cycle length (FCL) was calculated using spectral analysis of the fibrillation waves on the body-surface ECG every 2 weeks. Pilsicainide and bepridil were effective in 19 and 20 patients, respectively. The FCL at the basic state was longest in the pilsicainide-effective group, moderate in the bepridil-effective group and shortest in the failure group (P<0.05). The change in FCL with drug administration (DeltaFCL) was larger in the effective than in the ineffective cases (P<0.01). Successful interruption of the atrial fibrillation (AF) with pilsicainide could be expected for patients with a FCL >148 ms (sensitivity =0.917, specificity =0.612, P=0.007) and DeltaFCL >41 ms (sensitivity =0.875, specificity =0.833, P=0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The FCL reflects the electrophysiological properties of the AF substrate and is considered useful for predicting the efficacy of antiarrhythmic agents.
Department of Cardio-Angiology, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Kitasato, Sagamihara, Japan. shniwano@med.kitasato-u.ac.jp
Shinichi
S
Niwano
Takeshi
T
Sasaki
Sayaka
S
Kurokawa
Michiro
M
Kiryu
Hidehira
H
Fukaya
Yuko
Y
Hatakeyama
Hiroe
H
Niwano
Akira
A
Fujiki
Tohru
T
Izumi
D000368:Aged; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015764:Bepridil / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography; D022062:Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; D015764:Bepridil; D008012:Lidocaine; C042288:pilsicainide