Macroreentry in the infarcted human heart: the mechanism of ventricular tachycardias with a "focal" activation pattern

Department of Experimental Cardiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Endocardial mapping of electrical activity was carried out in 150 patients to guide antiarrhythmic surgery for drug-resistant ventricular tachycardia in the chronic phase of myocardial infarction. In 20 of these patients, the activation pattern of 27 distinct tachycardias was focal and diastolic potentials were recorded at three or more sites. In 26 tachycardias, the sequence of diastolic potentials progressed from the area of latest activation of one cycle toward the "origin" of the next cycle. In two patients, the heart was stimulated during tachycardia, resulting in entrainment of the tachycardia in both. Late potentials were recorded during entrainment at sites where diastolic potentials occurred during tachycardia. In 11 of the 20 patients, endocardial mapping was performed during sinus rhythm. In four of these, late potentials were observed during sinus rhythm at sites where diastolic potentials were recorded during tachycardia. In two patients without late potentials during sinus rhythm, late potentials were observed during stimulation and induced ectopic beats. The results support the concept that the mechanism of several of these tachycardias is based on reentry in a macrocircuit comprising a tract of surviving tissue traversing the infarct and the remaining healthy tissue. They also indicate that the absence of late potentials during sinus rhythm does not guarantee the absence of arrhythmogenic pathways.

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