Repetitive 4-week periods of atrial electrical remodeling promote stability of atrial fibrillation: Time course of a second factor involved in the self-perpetuation of atrial fibrillation

Episodes of atrial fibrillation (AF) are known to cause both a rapid reduction in atrial refractoriness (atrial electrical remodeling) and a more delayed increase in AF stability thought to be due to a so-called "second factor." The aim of this study was to quantify the effects and time co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Circulation (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2004-03, Vol.109 (11), p.1434-1439
Main Authors: TODD, Derick M, FYNN, Simon P, WALDEN, Andrew P, HOBBS, W. Julian, ARYA, Sanjay, GARRATT, Clifford J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Atrial Fibrillation - pathology
Atrial Fibrillation - physiopathology
Biological and medical sciences
Blood and lymphatic vessels
Cardiac Pacing, Artificial
Cardiology. Vascular system
Disease Progression
Diseases of the peripheral vessels. Diseases of the vena cava. Miscellaneous
Female
Goats
Heart Atria - physiopathology
Heart Atria - ultrastructure
Heart Conduction System - physiopathology
Medical sciences
Models, Animal
Models, Cardiovascular
Periodicity
Recurrence
Species Specificity
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Summary:Episodes of atrial fibrillation (AF) are known to cause both a rapid reduction in atrial refractoriness (atrial electrical remodeling) and a more delayed increase in AF stability thought to be due to a so-called "second factor." The aim of this study was to quantify the effects and time course of such a factor on AF stability in the chronic goat model. AF was maintained in 6 goats by burst atrial pacing for 3 consecutive 4-week periods separated a mean of 6+/-2.1 days of sinus rhythm. Six days of sinus rhythm was just sufficient for refractoriness changes to reverse fully in all goats. Atrial effective refractory period, AF inducibility, and duration of individual episodes of AF were assessed at regular intervals. There was a progressive reduction from month 1 to 2 to 3 in the mean duration of burst pacing required to induce individual episodes of AF of 60 seconds (178+/-251, 110+/-102, and 21+/-30 hours), 1 hour (229+/-224, 136+/-104, and 68+/-51 hours), and 24 hours (277+/-218, 192+/-190, and 102+/-75 hours; P
ISSN:0009-7322
1524-4539
DOI:10.1161/01.CIR.0000124006.84596.D9