Atrial components contributing to psendo r′ deflection in lead V1 in slow/fast atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia -: Analysis of the atrial activation sequence by basket catheter isochronal mapping

Electrocardiographic recognition of the P' wave during tachycardia is very useful in the diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardias. In slow/fast (S/F) atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT), no discrete P' waves are observed on ECG and pseudo r' deflection in lead V1 (pseudo r') is commonly recognized. However, the atrial components that contribute to the genesis of pseudo r' in lead V1 have not been described and this study aimed to clarify them by analysis of the whole activation sequence of the right atrium using Basket catheter isochronal mapping. The study group comprised 48 patients with AVNRT. Pseudo r' was defined as an upward deflection in the terminal portion of the QRS complex during tachycardia that was not recognized during sinus rhythm and it occurred in 45 patients (94%). During S/F AVNRT, the retrograde atrial activation was earliest on His bundle electrogram, followed by the coronary sinus ostium, distal coronary sinus and high right atrium. Only the high lateral aspect of the right atrium was activated after the end of the QRS complex. The interval between the onset of QRS in multiple surface ECG leads and the atria] activities on high right atrium was similar to the V-r'interval in lead V1 (111+/-20 ms, 117+/-11 ms) and correlated with the V-r' interval (r=0.56). Pseudo r' deflection ill lead V1 is a highly sensitive indicator of S/F AVNRT, and appears to result from the activation of the superolateral aspect of the right atrium.