Is competitive atrial pacing a possible trigger for atrial fibrillation? Observations from the RATE registry

Michael V. Orlov, Brian Olshansky, David G. Benditt, Gregory Kotler, Timothy McIntyre, Qu Fujian Qu, Melanie Turkel, Maxim Gorev, Hermine Poghosyan, Albert L. Waldo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A high incidence of asymptomatic atrial tachycardia and atrial fibrillation (AT/AF) has been recognized in patients with cardiac implantable devices (CIED). The clinical significance of these AT/AF episodes remains unclear. Some "device-detected AT/AF" was previously shown to be triggered by competitive atrial pacing (CAP).

OBJECTIVE: To investigate and characterize a potential association between CAP and AT/AF in the largest series of observations to date.

METHODS: RATE, a multicenter registry, included 5379 patients with CIEDs followed for approximately 2 years. Electrograms (EGMs) from 1352 patients with AT/AF, CAP, or both were analyzed by experienced adjudicators to assess a causal relationship between AT/AF and CAP onset, duration, and morphology.

RESULTS: In 225 patients, 1394 episodes of both AT/AF and CAP were present in the same tracing. CAP and AT/AF were strongly associated (P ≤ .02). AT/AF occurred during the course of the study in 71% of patients with CAP. In 62% of the episodes, expert adjudication concluded that CAP triggered AT/AF. The duration and morphology of triggered and spontaneous AT/AF episodes differed. Spontaneous AT/AF episodes were associated with constant EGM morphology, and were either long or extremely short. CAP-triggered AT/AF more often had variable and shorter cycle length EGMs. The incidence of short AT/AF events was higher among triggered episodes (25% vs 12.8%, P < .002).

CONCLUSION: Device-triggered AT/AF due to CAP is likely more common than previously recognized. This AT/AF entity differs from spontaneous AT/AF in duration and morphology. Clinical implications of spontaneous and device-triggered AT/AF may be different.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3-9
Number of pages7
JournalHeart Rhythm
Volume18
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The RATE registry was funded by St. Jude Medical (now a division of Abbott). Drs Orlov, Benditt, and Waldo received modest compensation for their work on the RATE registry until 2014. The current substudy of RATE was not funded by the sponsor. Dr Michael Orlov has consulting relationship with Biotronik , Boston Scientific , and Abbott (modest) and is a recipient of a research grant from Boston Scientific . Dr Olshansky is a consultant for Amarin and chairman of the DSMB of the REDUCE IT Trial. He is speaker and consultant for Lundbeck. He is consultant for Sanofi Aventis and co-chairman of the GLORIA AF in the United States for Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr Benditt is supported in part by a grant from the Dr Earl E. Bakken family in support of Heart-Brain research. Timothy McIntyre and Melanie Turkel are former employees of St. Jude Medical (now Abbott) who worked on both the RATE registry and the current substudy. Fujian Qu is a current employee of St. Jude Medical (now Abbott) who worked on both the RATE registry and the current substudy. Dr Albert Waldo has a consulting relationship with Biosense Webster (significant), AtriCure, and Milestone Pharmaceuticals (modest) and is a speaker for Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb (modest). The other authors have no conflict of interest.

Funding Information:
Disclosures: Dr Michael Orlov has consulting relationship with Biotronik, Boston Scientific, and Abbott (modest) and is a recipient of a research grant from Boston Scientific. Dr Olshansky is a consultant for Amarin and chairman of the DSMB of the REDUCE IT Trial. He is speaker and consultant for Lundbeck. He is consultant for Sanofi Aventis and co-chairman of the GLORIA AF in the United States for Boehringer Ingelheim. Dr Benditt is supported in part by a grant from the Dr Earl E. Bakken family in support of Heart-Brain research. Timothy McIntyre and Melanie Turkel are former employees of St. Jude Medical (now Abbott) who worked on both the RATE registry and the current substudy. Fujian Qu is a current employee of St. Jude Medical (now Abbott) who worked on both the RATE registry and the current substudy. Dr Albert Waldo has a consulting relationship with Biosense Webster (significant), AtriCure, and Milestone Pharmaceuticals (modest) and is a speaker for Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb (modest). The other authors have no conflict of interest.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Heart Rhythm Society

Keywords

  • Atrial tachyarrhythmias
  • Cardiac implantable devices
  • Competitive atrial pacing
  • Electrogram
  • Repetitive nonreentrant
  • Subclinical atrial fibrillation
  • Triggered atrial fibrillation
  • Ventriculoatrial synchrony

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article
  • Multicenter Study

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