Chonnam Med J.  2001 Dec;37(4):345-349.

Effects of Verapamil and Propafenone on Pacing-induced Atrial Electrophysiologic Remodeling

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Cardiology, Chonnam University Hospital, Korea.
  • 2Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, Korea.
  • 3Wonkwang University Hospital, Iksan, Korea.

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that atrial fibrillation (AF) induces atrial electrophysiologic remodeling (AER) and AER is responsible for perpetuation of AF. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether AER can be induced by relatively short period of rapid atrial pacing (RAP) and the effects of verapamil and propafenone on AER. Study subjects were 46 patients undergoing electrophysiologic study at the Chonnam University Hospital. Atrial effective refractory period (A-ERP) was measured at drive cycle lengths (DCL) of 600, 500, 400, and 300 ms with single atrial extra stimulus technique. AER was evaluated by measuring A-ERP change during RAP at a cycle length of 300 ms for 5 minutes at drug-free state (Group A) and after IV administration of verapamil at a dose of 0.15 mg/kg (Group B) or propafenone at a dose of 1 mg/kg (Group C). A-ERP decreased from 220.3 +/- 24.9 ms (DCL of 600 ms) to 184.1 +/- 18.6 ms at 1 min, 176.9 +/- 18.9 ms at 2 min, 172.7 +/- 18.4 ms at 3 min, 168.9 +/- 18.0 ms at 4 min, 168.4 +/- 20.3 ms at 5 min after RAP. Change of A-ERP during RAP was significantly reduced in Group B and C, compared to Group A (Group A, 58.0 +/- 2.8 ms; Group B, 32.8 +/- 9.9 ms; Group C, 37.0 +/- 7.4 ms, p<0.05). However, inducibility of AF during RAP between before and after verapamil or propafenone was similar (46.7% vs. 53.3%, 40.0% vs. 60.0%, respectively). In conclusion, AER can be evaluated with short duration of RAP at a cycle length of 300 ms and this AER is inhibited by verapamil and propafenone without influence on inducibility of AF.

Keyword

Atrial fibrillation; Electrophysiologic remodeling; Antiarrhythmics

MeSH Terms

Atrial Fibrillation
Humans
Jeollanam-do
Propafenone*
Verapamil*
Propafenone
Verapamil
Full Text Links
  • CMJ
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr