BACKGROUND Heart rate (HR) variability reflects the neural regulation of normal pacemaker tissue, but the autonomic nervous regulation of abnormal atrial foci originating outside the sinus node has not been well characterized. We compared the HR variability of tachycardias originating from the ectopic foci and the sinus node. METHODS AND RESULTS R-R-interval variability was analyzed from 24-h...

Radiofrequency catheter ablation of ectopic foci that trigger atrial fibrillation has been established as a curative method for patients with symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Although the majority of these foci are located in and around the pulmonary veins, other less common locations have been identified. Recognition that foci can lie outside the pulmonary veins is important for ens...

A case of atrial tachysystole with apparent exit block is reported in which the basic cycle length of atrial activity is 260 msec. Simultaneous right intra-atrial electrograms show cycle lengths of 510 to 780 msec which are roughly multiples of 260 msec establishing the diagnosis of exit block. Rapid atrial stimulation (1,200/min) to overdrive the rapid ectopic atrial pacemaker was only transie...

A case is reported of a 35 year old man with atrial parasystolic trigeminy. The patient presented with a 10 year history of sustained supraventricular extrasystole causing symptoms leading to several hospitalisations and continuous unemployment. He had been treated ineffectively with several drug combinations. Radiofrequency catheter ablation of a right atrial focus completely suppressed the ec...

Sinus pauses in the setting of supraventricular tachycardia is rare in children. We describe an asymptomatic teen with irregular heart rate detected during an incidental exam who was found to have short runs of a slow ectopic atrial tachycardia on electrocardiogram and prolonged sinus pauses on routine ambulatory ECG. Successful catheter ablation of the ectopic atrial tachycardia led to resolut...

In this study we investigated the response of the isolated rabbit sinus node to ectopic atrial premature beats elicited late in the atrial cycle. In three experiments the response of at least 45 different fibers of the sinus node was recorded, whereas, in other experiments, investigation was less extensive. In this way the spread of activation of the total pacemaker area could be mapped accurat...

I would like to make one comment regarding the paper entitled 'Aberrant Atrial Conduction' from the British Heart journal of April I972, by Edward K. Chung. In all of his examples of socalled aberrant atrial conduction he makes an assumption that the aberrant atrial impulse originates from the sinus. I am unable to ascertain from his article how he came to this conclusion. Most of his examples ...

Fragments of Holter monitoring a 64-year-old patient with paroxysms supraventricular tachycardia are presented, atrial ectopic activity during is recorded, which does not interrupt the tachycardia, but changes sequence RR intervals. The possibility remote analysis data 3-day patient’s electrocardiogram in 12-channel provided.

Threshold bipolar pacing was performed from one of 12 selected atrial sites with temporary implanted electrodes in 69 patients following open-heart surgery in order to study P wave polarity and morphology and the P-R interval during paced ectopic atrial rhythms. A negative P wave was recorded in lead I only with pacing the left atrium and only when pacing near the left pulmonary veins. A posit...