Atrial anti-tachycardia pacing resulting in termination of atrial flutter: intracardiac electrograms providing insight into the mechanism of arrhythmia termination

Abstract

The “MINimizE Right Ventricular pacing to prevent Atrial fibrillation and heart failure” (MINERVA) multicenter randomized study demonstrated that atrial anti-tachycardia pacing (A-ATP) can effectively decrease the burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with bradycardia and atrial tachyarrhythmias. We herein describe the unique electrophysiological results of AF ablation in a patient for whom atrial flutter (AFL) was terminated by A-ATP from a Medtronic dual-chamber pacemaker. In this case, the atrial activation sequence indicated that the tachycardia was a right atrial typical flutter and that A-ATP from the right atrial appendage would thus be more likely to terminate the tachycardia. This is a novel case involving documented intracardiac electrograms captured during an AF ablation study in a patient in whom AFL was successfully terminated by A-ATP. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms by which A-ATP can terminate atrial arrhythmias.