Noninvasive Assessment of Spatio-Temporal Recurrence in Atrial Fibrillation

Propagation of Atrial Activity during atrial fibrillation (AF) is a complex phenomenon characterized by a certain degree of recurrence (periodic repetition). In this study, we investigated the possibility to detect recurrence noninvasively from body surface potential map recordings in patients affected by persistent AF, and localize this recurrence both in time and space. Results showed that clusters of recurrence can be identified from body surface recordings in these patients. Moreover, the number of clusters detected and their location on the top-right of the back of the torso were significantly associated with AF recurrence 4 to 6 weeks after electrical cardioversion. This suggests that noninvasive quantification of recurrence in persistent AF patients is possible, and may contribute to improve patient stratification.