Document Detail


The use of transtelephonic loop recorders for the assessment of symptoms and arrhythmia recurrence after radiofrequency catheter ablation.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20815746     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFA) is an effective treatment of arrhythmias. However, patients often remain symptomatic after the procedure. We aimed to assess the arrhythmia recurrence after successful RFA in relation to patients' symptoms using transtelephonic loop recorders. Thirty-six consecutive patients (age 50 +/- 14 years, 17 males/19 females) were enrolled after successful RFA for atrioventricular (AV) nodal reentrant tachycardia (n = 21), AV reentrant tachycardia (n = 8), atrial tachycardia (n = 2), atrial fibrillation/flutter (n = 4), and ventricular tachycardia (n = 1). During 23 +/- 6 days of follow-up, 679 events were recorded, 246 of which were true arrhythmic events, mostly (56%) asymptomatic. The vast majority of these true arrhythmic events were due to trivial arrhythmias (extrasystoles or sinus tachycardia), equally distributed among symptomatic and asymptomatic episodes. Arrhythmia relapse was shown in four patients, who had a total of nine episodes, eight of which were symptomatic. No high degree AV block was detected. Overall, symptom recurrence had low sensitivity (44%) and high specificity (95%) for the detection of any arrhythmia, and high sensitivity (89%) but low specificity (58%) for the detection of relapse. In conclusion, transtelephonic monitoring was a useful tool for the assessment of symptoms after RFA and its use may be reserved for the most symptomatic patients to detect a relapse or to reassure them for the benign nature of their symptoms.
Authors:
Vassilios P Vassilikos; Vassilios Vogas; Georgios Giannakoulas; Lilian Mantziari; Ioanna Lekka; Konstantinos Dimitrakopoulos; Stelios Paraskevaidis; Sokratis Konias; Nikolaos Maglavelas; Ioanna Chouvarda; Haralambos Styliadis; Ioannis H Styliadis
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Telemedicine journal and e-health : the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association     Volume:  16     ISSN:  1556-3669     ISO Abbreviation:  Telemed J E Health     Publication Date:  2010 Sep 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-09-06     Completed Date:  2011-01-06     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  100959949     Medline TA:  Telemed J E Health     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  792-8     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
First Cardiology Department, AHEPA Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. vvassil@med.auth.gr
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Arrhythmias, Cardiac / diagnosis,  prevention & control,  surgery*
Atrial Fibrillation / diagnosis,  surgery
Atrial Flutter / diagnosis,  surgery
Catheter Ablation / instrumentation,  methods*
Electrocardiography / instrumentation*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Recurrence
Risk Factors
Tachycardia, Atrioventricular Nodal Reentry / diagnosis,  surgery
Tachycardia, Supraventricular / diagnosis,  surgery
Tachycardia, Ventricular / diagnosis,  surgery

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