The Utility of a Lewis Lead for Distinguishing Atrioventricular Reentrant Tachycardia from Typical Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia

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Objective The Lewis lead configuration is an alternative bipolar chest lead and it can help detect atrial activity. The utility of the Lewis lead to distinguish orthodromic atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT) from typical atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) by visualizing the apparent retrogradely conducted P waves was investigated.

Methods Forty-four patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) were included in this study. All patients had PSVT documented by an electrocardiogram (ECG) and underwent an electrophysiological study (EPS). During tachycardia, an ECG recording was performed using a Lewis lead with the electrode on the right aspect of the sternum at the second intercostal space instead of the right arm and the electrode on the fourth intercostal space instead of the left arm. The ECG parameters during tachycardia were compared between AVRT and AVNRT.

Results Fourteen patients were diagnosed with AVRTs and 30 with typical AVNRTs on EPS. The positive P wave could be seen in the Lewis lead configuration in 9 of 14 patients with AVRTs and 21 of 30 patients with AVNRTs. P waves were more often visible in the Lewis lead configuration than in the standard leads (66% vs. 45%). The RP interval was significantly longer for AVRTs than for AVNRTs (88±17 vs. 154±34 ms, p<0.001), which yields 89% sensitivity and 71% specificity for distinguishing these 2 tachyarrhythmias with a cut-off point of 100 ms.

Conclusion A Lewis lead configuration may help to make an accurate diagnosis among the reentrant supraventricular tachycardias prior to procedures, owing to its ability to locate P waves.