Signed value of monophasic action potential duration difference. A useful measure in evaluation of dispersion of repolarization in patients with ventricular arrhythmias.

AIMS

To evaluate the usefulness of the signed value of monophasic action potential duration difference in analysing the cause of dispersion of ventricular repolarization.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Monophasic action potentials were simultaneously recorded from the right ventricular apex and outflow tract during programmed stimulation in 36 patients with ventricular arrhythmias. The time difference between the ends of repolarization on the two monophasic action potentials was used as a measure of the dispersion of ventricular repolarization, and the signed value of the monophasic action potential duration difference was used to specify the contributions of the activation time difference and the monophasic action potential duration difference to the dispersion of ventricular repolarization. During right ventricular pacing, single and double programmed stimulation and at the induction of ventricular arrhythmias, the dispersion of ventricular repolarization and the signed value of monophasic action potential duration difference were markedly greater in the 11 patients with polymorphic ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation induced than in the 13 patients with monomorphic ventricular tachycardia induced, and in the 10 patients with clinical polymorphic ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation/cardiac arrest than in the 12 patients with sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia. This disclosed that the increased dispersion of ventricular repolarization was caused by increases in both the activation time difference and the monophasic action potential duration difference in the former, but mainly by an increased activation time difference in the latter groups.

CONCLUSION

The signed value of monophasic action potential duration difference can specify whether an increased dispersion of ventricular repolarization is caused by inhomogeneous repolarization, inhomogeneous conduction or both, and thereby it is useful in study of the mechanism of ventricular arrhythmias.