The purpose of this study was to determine prospectively whether the signal-averaged ECG (SA-ECG) is useful for the prediction of recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after direct current cardioversion of persistent AF. The P-wave SA-ECG was recorded in 57 patients after successful cardioversion and the duration of the filtered P-wave, the root mean square voltages for the last 30 ms of the filtered P-wave, and the PQ-interval were calculated. None of these parameters was able to distinguish between patients with or without recurrence of AF within a follow-up period of 4 weeks or 1 year, respectively. Additionally, the time course of recurrence of AF was not significantly different between patients with a normal or a prolonged P-wave. The identification of patients with an increased risk of recurrence of AF by signal-averaged ECG was not possible.
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The purpose of this study was to determine prospectively whether the signal-averaged ECG (SA-ECG) is useful for the prediction of recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after direct current cardioversion of persistent AF. The P-wave SA-ECG was recorded in 57 patients after successful cardioversion and the duration of the filtered P-wave, the root mean square voltages for the last 30 ms of the filtered P-wave, and the PQ-interval were calculated. None of these parameters was able to distinguish b...
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