Intracardiac electrogram characteristics of intramural outflow tract ventricular arrhythmias

Abstract

Background Annotation of earliest depolarization which depends on maximum dV/dt of unipolar-electrograms and unipolar QS morphology identify site of origin for ventricular premature contractions (VPC). However, identification of unipolar QS morphology has limitations due to low spatial resolution. This study aims to compare electrogram characteristics at successful ablation site in patients with outflow tract (OT) VPC. Methods Local activation time (LAT), duration, and voltage data of each bipolar- and unipolar-electrogram at the successful ablation sites from the right ventricle OT (RVOT) and the left ventricle OT (LVOT) cases were analyzed. Results Forty-four of 60 (73%) of patients were ablated from RVOT and in 16/60 (27%) required ablation from both sides. All patients had acute VPC suppression. Bipolar-electrogram-QRS onset was earlier (36.4 +/- 14.5 ms vs 26.3 +/- 7.4 ms, p = 0.01), duration of bipolar-electrogram was shorter (56.9 +/- 18.9 ms vs 78.9 +/- 21.8 ms, p = 0.002), and bi-voltage amplitude was higher (3.2 +/- 2.3 mV vs 1.4 +/- 1.1 mV, p = 0.07) for patients with RVOT-only ablation. Mean bipolar-unipolar-electrogram difference was 4.4 +/- 4.5 ms in the RVOT group vs 12.8 +/- 4.9 ms in RVOT + LVOT group (p < 0.001). Unipolar QS morphology was recorded in 3.0 +/- 3.9 vs 3.6 +/- 1.8 cm(2) in RVOT and RVOT + LVOT group, respectively (p = 0.41). Unipolar-electrogram revealed W pattern in 3/44 of RVOT vs 5/16 of RVOT + LVOT group, respectively (p = 0.01). In 18/60 (30%) of patients, unipolar QS was not identified at successful ablation site. Conclusion QS in unipolar-electrogram was not a perfect predictor for successful ablation sites. Analysis of bipolar voltage amplitude and duration with bipolar-unipolar-electrogram time difference may identify presence of a deeper source.