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Effect of flecainide on atrial fibrillatory rate in a large animal model with induced atrial fibrillation

Hesselkilde, Eva Z. ; Carstensen, Helena ; Haugaard, Maria M. ; Carlson, Jonas LU orcid ; Pehrson, Steen LU ; Jespersen, Thomas ; Buhl, Rikke and Platonov, Pyotr G. LU (2017) In BMC Cardiovascular Disorders 17(1).
Abstract

Background: Atrial fibrillatory cycle length has been considered one of the indices of atrial electrical remodelling during atrial fibrillation (AF), which can be assessed from surface ECG by computer-assisted calculation of atrial fibrillatory rate (AFR). Horses have been suggested as a bona fide model for AF studies since horses too, develop lone AF, however data on AF characteristics in horses are extremely sparse and non-invasive characterization of AF complexity using surface ECG processing has not been reported. Aim: The aim was to study characteristics of induced AF and its modification by flecainide. Methods: The study group consisted on 3 horses with spontaneous persistent AF and 13 with pace-induced AF. Seven horses were... (More)

Background: Atrial fibrillatory cycle length has been considered one of the indices of atrial electrical remodelling during atrial fibrillation (AF), which can be assessed from surface ECG by computer-assisted calculation of atrial fibrillatory rate (AFR). Horses have been suggested as a bona fide model for AF studies since horses too, develop lone AF, however data on AF characteristics in horses are extremely sparse and non-invasive characterization of AF complexity using surface ECG processing has not been reported. Aim: The aim was to study characteristics of induced AF and its modification by flecainide. Methods: The study group consisted on 3 horses with spontaneous persistent AF and 13 with pace-induced AF. Seven horses were treated with saline (control) and eight with flecainide (2 mg/kg). ECGs were analysed using spatiotemporal cancellation of QRST complexes and calculation of AFR from the residual atrial signal. Results: At AF onset, AFR was 295±52 fibrillations per minute (fpm) in the horses with induced AF treated with flecainide, 269±36 fpm in the control group (ns), and 364±26 fpm in the horses with spontaneous persistent AF (P<0.05 compared to the control group). Flecainide caused a decrease in AFR in all animals and restored sinus rhythm in the animals with induced AF. In the control animals, AFR increased from 269±36 fpm to a plateau of 313±14 fpm before decreasing to 288±28 fpm during the last 10% of the AF episodes preceding spontaneous conversion (P<0.05). Conclusion: AFR in horses with induced AF resembles AFR in humans with paroxysmal AF. Flecainide caused a rapid decrease in AFR in all horses, further supporting the method to be a non-invasive technique to study the effect of antiarrhythmic compounds.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Animal model, Antiarrhythmic drug, Atrial electrophysiology, Atrial fibrillation, Atrial fibrillatory rate, Equine, Flecainide, Horse, Programmed electrical stimulation
in
BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
volume
17
issue
1
article number
289
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85037329924
  • wos:000417511700001
  • pmid:29221440
ISSN
1471-2261
DOI
10.1186/s12872-017-0720-1
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8381fe35-7b51-45cb-8399-1c6a1cfc9c47
date added to LUP
2018-01-05 14:03:21
date last changed
2024-01-14 11:23:35
@article{8381fe35-7b51-45cb-8399-1c6a1cfc9c47,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Atrial fibrillatory cycle length has been considered one of the indices of atrial electrical remodelling during atrial fibrillation (AF), which can be assessed from surface ECG by computer-assisted calculation of atrial fibrillatory rate (AFR). Horses have been suggested as a bona fide model for AF studies since horses too, develop lone AF, however data on AF characteristics in horses are extremely sparse and non-invasive characterization of AF complexity using surface ECG processing has not been reported. Aim: The aim was to study characteristics of induced AF and its modification by flecainide. Methods: The study group consisted on 3 horses with spontaneous persistent AF and 13 with pace-induced AF. Seven horses were treated with saline (control) and eight with flecainide (2 mg/kg). ECGs were analysed using spatiotemporal cancellation of QRST complexes and calculation of AFR from the residual atrial signal. Results: At AF onset, AFR was 295±52 fibrillations per minute (fpm) in the horses with induced AF treated with flecainide, 269±36 fpm in the control group (ns), and 364±26 fpm in the horses with spontaneous persistent AF (P&lt;0.05 compared to the control group). Flecainide caused a decrease in AFR in all animals and restored sinus rhythm in the animals with induced AF. In the control animals, AFR increased from 269±36 fpm to a plateau of 313±14 fpm before decreasing to 288±28 fpm during the last 10% of the AF episodes preceding spontaneous conversion (P&lt;0.05). Conclusion: AFR in horses with induced AF resembles AFR in humans with paroxysmal AF. Flecainide caused a rapid decrease in AFR in all horses, further supporting the method to be a non-invasive technique to study the effect of antiarrhythmic compounds.</p>}},
  author       = {{Hesselkilde, Eva Z. and Carstensen, Helena and Haugaard, Maria M. and Carlson, Jonas and Pehrson, Steen and Jespersen, Thomas and Buhl, Rikke and Platonov, Pyotr G.}},
  issn         = {{1471-2261}},
  keywords     = {{Animal model; Antiarrhythmic drug; Atrial electrophysiology; Atrial fibrillation; Atrial fibrillatory rate; Equine; Flecainide; Horse; Programmed electrical stimulation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{BMC Cardiovascular Disorders}},
  title        = {{Effect of flecainide on atrial fibrillatory rate in a large animal model with induced atrial fibrillation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12872-017-0720-1}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12872-017-0720-1}},
  volume       = {{17}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}