Internal Medicine
Online ISSN : 1349-7235
Print ISSN : 0918-2918
ISSN-L : 0918-2918
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Frequency Characteristics and Associations with the Defibrillation Threshold of Ventricular Fibrillation in Patients with Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators
Kenichi Iijima, Masaomi Chinushi, Osamu Saitoh, Kanae Hasegawa, Keiko Sonoda, Nobue Yagihara, Akinori Sato, Daisuke Izumi, Hiroshi Watanabe, Hiroshi Furushima, Yoshifusa Aizawa, Tohru Minamino
Author information
Keywords: ventricular fibrillation, frequency analysis, dominant frequency, defibrillation threshold
JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS

2015 Volume 54 Issue 10 Pages 1175-1182

Details
Download PDF (248K)
Download citation RIS

(compatible with EndNote, Reference Manager, ProCite, RefWorks)

BIB TEX

(compatible with BibDesk, LaTeX)

Text
How to download citation
Contact us
Abstract

Objective The dominant frequency (DF) in frequency analyses is considered to represent the objective cycle length and complexity of activation under conditions of ventricular fibrillation (VF). However, knowledge regarding the mechanisms determining the DF in human VF is limited. We studied the characteristics of the DF of human VF and relationship between DF and the defibrillation threshold.
Methods Seventy-two implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients and 211 VF were studied. Using defibrillation tests, we performed a frequency analysis with fast Fourier transformation. The correlations between DF and clinical characteristics, including the defibrillation threshold, were assessed.
Results The mean DF of all induced VFs was 5.2±0.8 Hz. The patients were divided into two groups according to DF: the low-DF (DF <5.2 Hz, n=32) and high-DF (DF ≥5.2 Hz, n=40) groups. The frequency of structural heart disease was significantly higher in the low-DF group. In addition, the QRS duration, QT interval and effective refractory period of the right ventricle (RV-ERP) were significantly longer in the low-DF group. A multivariate analysis showed RV-ERP to be the only independent predictor of DF. Excluding patients receiving group III anti-arrhythmic drugs, which are known to have potent defibrillation threshold effects, the defibrillation threshold was significantly lower in the low-DF group (p=0.026).
Conclusion We found that the DF of human VF is associated with underlying heart disease, the cardiac function, cardiac conduction, ventricular refractoriness and defibrillation threshold. Our findings may be useful for identifying and managing patients with a high defibrillation threshold.

Content from these authors
© 2015 by The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine
Previous article Next article
Favorites & Alerts

Recently viewed articles
Predecessor

Japanese Journal of Medicine

Share this page
feedback
 Top