title: Electrophysiological changes preceding the onset of atrial fibrillation after coronary bypass grafting surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The incidence of Post-CABG atrial fibrillation (AF) lies between 25% and 40%. It worsens morbidity and raises post-operative costs. Detection of incoming AF soon enough for prophylactic intervention would be helpful. The study is to investigate the electrophysiological changes preceding the onset of AF and their relationship to the preoperative risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were recorded continuously for the first four days after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) with three unipolar electrodes sutured to the atria (AEG). The patients experiencing an AF lasting more than 10 minutes were selected and the two hours before the onset were analyzed. Four variables were found to show significant changes in the two hours prior to the first prolonged AF: increasing rate of premature atrial activation, increasing incidence of short transient arrhythmias, acceleration of heart rate, and rise of low frequency content of heart rate. The main contrast was between the first and last hour before AF onset. Preoperative risk was not predictive of the onset time of AF and did not correlate with the amplitude of changes prior to AF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Post-CABG AF were preceded by electrophysiological changes occurring in the last hour before the onset of the arrhythmia, whereas none of these changes was found to occur in all AF patients. The risk was a weighted sum of factors related to the density of premature activations and the state of atrial substrate reflected by the sinus rhythm and its frequency content prior to AF. Preoperative risk score seems unhelpful in setting a detection threshold for the AF onset.
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Montréal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Yalin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Biomedical Engineering Institute, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dubé
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Montréal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Department of Surgery, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pagé
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Biomedical Engineering Institute, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vinet
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects*; D022062:Electrophysiologic Techniques, Cardiac / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*