title: P-wave Variability and Atrial Fibrillation.
abstract: The analysis of P-wave template has been widely used to extract indices of Atrial Fibrillation (AF) risk stratification. The aim of this paper was to assess the potential of the analysis of the P-wave variability over time in patients suffering from atrial fibrillation. P-wave features extracted from P-wave template together with novel indices of P-wave variability have been estimated in a population of patients suffering from persistent AF and compared to those extracted from control subjects. We quantify the P-wave variability over time using three algorithms and we extracted three novel indices: one based on the cross-correlation coefficients among the P-waves (Cross-Correlation Index, CCI), one associated to variation in amplitude of the P-waves (Amplitude Dispersion Index, ADI), one sensible to the phase shift among P-waves (Warping Index, WI). The control group resulted to be characterized by shorter P-wave duration and by a less amount of fragmentation and variability, respect to AF patients. The parameter CCI shows the highest sensitivity (97.3%) and a good specificity (95%).
authors.affiliation: Technology and Health Dept., Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, 00161, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Censi
authors.affiliation: Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine Department, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40126, Italy.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Corazza
authors.affiliation: Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine Department, University of Bologna, Bologna, 40126, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Reggiani
authors.affiliation: Technology and Health Dept., Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, 00161, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Calcagnini
authors.affiliation: Technology and Health Dept., Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, 00161, Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mattei
authors.affiliation: Technology and Health Dept., Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, 00161, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Triventi
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Dept., AOU Policlinico di Modena, Modena, 41124, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boriani
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D012008:Recurrence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D002317:Cardiovascular Agents