To examine the question of why the pacing rate and duration of atrial pacing are crucial factors in the successful interruption of atrial flutter, studies were performed on 30 patients in the period following open heart surgery. In each patient the diagnosis of atrial flutter was made using a pair of wire electrodes placed on the right atrial epicardium at the time of operation and brought out ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of exercise on cycle length in atrial flutter. PATIENTS 15 patients with chronic atrial flutter. Seven patients were taking digoxin and six verapamil; two were not taking medication. METHODS All patients underwent bicycle ergometry. Flutter cycle length was measured at rest and at peak exercise. RESULTS Mean flutter cycle length increased from 245 ms to 256...

On October 1, 1999, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved dofetilide (Tikosyn) for the treatment of persistent (nonparoxysmal) atrial fibrillation and flutter. However, the FDA cautioned: “Because Tikosyn can cause life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, it should be reserved for patients in whom atrial fibrillation/flutter is highly symptomatic (1).” Dofetilide is the first ne...

ALTHOUGH atrial flutter occurs at atrial rates of 230 to 350 per minute, or faster, the ventricular response is usually at one half the atrial rate because of partial block of atrioventricular conduction. This block is of)hysiologic origin, arising from the refrac-tory period of the atrioventricular node, and it may occur without obvious cardiac disease .1-3 On the other hand, variations in the...

A 67 year old man presented with a serum potassium of 7.7 mEq/L and slow atrial flutter with variable A-V block and peaked T waves. Initial treatment for hyperkalemia was followed by an increase in the atrial flutter rate to 300 beats per minute. After hemodialysis the rhythm converted to sinus.

To evaluate the significance of P-wave duration and morphology for the development of post-operative atrial fibrillation/flutter, we investigated 189 consecutive patients scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass surgery. The longest pre-operative total P-wave duration was measured from the standard electrocardiogram at a paper speed of 50 mm.s-1 (mean of two independent observers). By the ...

Plasma concentrations of immunoreactive atrial natriuretic polypeptide were raised in 22 of 23 patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia and in all seven patients with atrial flutter. Plasma concentrations of atrial natriuretic polypeptide rose soon after the onset of supraventricular tachycardia. A sample taken 30 minutes after reversion to sinus rhythm (pharmacological or non-phar...

A technique is described to control recurrent or sustained supraventricular tachycardia associated with rapid ventricular rates following open heart surgery. The technique utilizes a pair of temporarily implanted atrial epicardial wire electrodes to pace the heart. In one group of patients with recurrent atrial flutter and 2:1 A-V conduction, continuous rapid atrial pacing at 450 beats/min prod...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) is a rare inherited disorder associated with cardiac involvement. We investigated the spectrum and relevance of the cardiac manifestations of EDMD, focusing on bradyarrhythmias and tachyarrhythmias (including atrial fibrillation/flutter), embolic stroke, and heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS Eighteen patients (age 42.8+/-19.6 ye...