Atrial standstill

Abstract

Atrial standstill was first described by Chávez et al. in 1946 [1]. The diagnostic criteria include 1) the absence of P waves in the ECG and of A waves in the intracardiac recordings, 2) narrow QRS complexes, 3) evidence of atrial paralysis (absence of A waves in the jugular venous pulse, in the atrial pressure recording and in the mitral Doppler recording), and 4) inability to stimulate the atria [1].