Abstract 16616: Automatic Measurement of Short-Term Variability of Repolarization Captures Modulation by Pacing on Human Intracardiac Electrograms

Abstract

Introduction: Short-term variability of repolarization (STV) increases prior to ventricular arrhythmias (VA) both in humans and in animal models of VA, and is therefore a promising tool for real-time monitoring of arrhythmic risk. To integrate this concept in cardiac devices, a method to automatically determine STV on intracardiac electrograms (EGM) was developed. This STV algorithm demonstrated high efficacy in predicting life-threatening VA in animal studies, but still needs to be evaluated on human signals. Objective: To assess the performance of the novel automatic method of STV measurement on human EGMs during sinus rhythm (SR) and pacing. Methods: ECG and EGM signals with a 1 kHz sampling frequency were recorded in 14 dual chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) patients during implantation (n=4) or replacement (n=10) procedures. Recordings were obtained in SR, atrial pacing at 80 beats per minute (AAI80) and atrioventricular pacing at the same frequency (DDD80). STV was calculated over 31 consecutive beats as Σ