Yonsei Med J.  2017 Jul;58(4):884-887. 10.3349/ymj.2017.58.4.884.

Focal Atrial Tachycardia Arising from the Inferior Vena Cava

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Cardiology, Yonsei University Health System, Seoul, Korea. hnpak@yuhs.ac

Abstract

The inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare site of focal atrial tachycardia (AT). Here, we report a 20-year-old woman who underwent catheter ablation for anti-arrhythmic drug-resistant AT originating from the IVC. She had undergone open-heart surgery for patch closure of an atrial septal defect 17 years previously and permanent pacemaker implantation for sinus node dysfunction 6 years previously. The AT focus was at the anterolateral aspect of the IVC-right atrial junction, and it was successfully ablated under three-dimensional electroanatomical-mapping guidance. We suspect that the mechanism of this tachycardia was associated with previous IVC cannulation for open-heart surgery.

Keyword

Atrial tachycardia; inferior vena cava; catheter ablation

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Catheter Ablation
Child, Preschool
Electrocardiography
Female
Heart Atria/*pathology
Humans
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
Tachycardia/diagnostic imaging/*pathology
Vena Cava, Inferior/*pathology
Young Adult

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Electrocardiography (ECG) rhythm strip showing the initiation (A) and termination (B) of clinical atrial tachycardia (AT). The initiation of AT occurs with atrial extrastimuli and terminates abruptly. The patient's basic self-rhythm is junctional rhythm because of sinus node dysfunction after cardiac surgery. A 12-lead ECG of the clinical AT (C).

  • Fig. 2 Three-dimensional (3D) activation map (A). The focal pattern of activation is demonstrated using electroanatomical mapping. The earliest activation site of the tachycardia near the junction between the inferior vena cava (IVC) and right atrium (RA) is shown on the anatomical reconstruction of the RA. The area in white represents the earliest activation region during initiation of the propagation sequence. 3D voltage map (B). Endocardial voltage mapping in the RA is demonstrated. The voltage amplitudes of the sample points (small yellow dots) are assessed, and the points are set to a color scale as indicated in the figure. Large, irregular regions of extremely low voltage (red) consistent with myocardial scarring can be detected over the entire RA. Fluoroscopic projections showing the intracardiac positions of the ablation catheter (C). The catheter ablation site located in the IVC-RA junction is presented in the left anterior oblique view (LAO) and right anterior oblique view (RAO).

  • Fig. 3 Intracardiac electrograms and ablation signals at the inferior vena cava, where the local electrogram recorded from the distal electrodes of the ablation catheter during tachycardia preceded the onset of the earliest atrial activation (H9, 10) by 40 ms. ABL, ablation; HRA, high right atrium; HIS, His bundle; H, duodecapolar catheter.


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