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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
11 Pt 2
pubmed:dateCreated
1999-2-10
pubmed:abstractText
Rejection remains the Achilles heel of orthotopic cardiac transplantation (OHT). Reliable noninvasive markers of rejection are desirable for timely therapy and to reduce risks and costs. Changes in atrial electrophysiology may precede ventricular changes during acute rejection. Although P wave duration in the signal-averaged ECG reflects atrial conduction, the feasibility of such measurement and the range of its values in OHT patients in absence of rejection is uncertain. This study compared the filtered P wave duration in 15 hypertensive OHT patients free of rejection with that in 15 age-matched hypertensive controls. All OHT patients had biatrial anastomoses. Two electrophysiologists interpreted the tracings independently. Three tracings (2 OHT, 1 control) could not be interpreted by either reader. An adequate P wave signal-averaged ECG was obtained in the remaining patients, despite the frequent presence of dissociated P waves (recipient and donor atria) on standard ECG in OHT patients. There was good interobserver agreement in the measurement of filtered P wave duration (r = 0.91; P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The filtered P wave duration was significantly shorter in the OHT patients (112 +/- 15 ms versus 128 +/- 14 ms; P = 0.008). Filtered P wave duration can be measured in most OHT. Filtered P wave duration is shorter in OHT patients than in hypertensive controls, possibly as a result of the reduced mass of the truncated donor atria. Further studies are needed to determine whether the signal-averaged P wave can be useful to predict acute cardiac rejection.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0147-8389
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
21
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
2327-30
pubmed:dateRevised
2004-11-17
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1998
pubmed:articleTitle
Characteristics of the signal-averaged P wave in orthotopic heart transplant recipients.
pubmed:affiliation
Section of Cardiology, Rush Medical College, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. avolgman@rpslmc.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article