Open AccessIs This Atrial Fibrillation?
Author(s) -
Jadidi Amir S.,
Sunthorn Henri,
Burri Haran,
GentilBaron Pascale,
Shah Dipen
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
annals of noninvasive electrocardiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.494
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1542-474X
pISSN - 1082-720X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1542-474x.2008.00266.x
Subject(s) - medicine , atrial fibrillation , cardiology , orthodromic , catheter ablation , artifact (error) , tachycardia , accessory pathway , ablation , electrocardiography , atrial tachycardia , qrs complex , electrophysiology , neuroscience , biology
A 19‐year‐old girl was referred to our cardiology department for catheter ablation (isolation of the pulmonary veins) of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). The diagnosis was made upon a 12‐lead ECG of the arrhythmia documented in the emergency room. The ECG showed an irregular tachycardia without wide QRS complexes. Careful assessment revealed the irregularity of the rhythm was a sweep artifact due to a mechanic failure of the ECG‐machine to advance the article smoothly. During EP study a concealed anteroseptal accessory pathway causing an orthodromic AV reentrant tachycardia was eliminated by radio‐frequency ablation. This example emphasizes the need for careful assessment of an ECG tracing, including printed legends and technical data.