Atrial impulses at the atrioventricular node: Arrival versus conduction during atrial fibrillation

Abstract

The atrioventricular (AV) node plays a central role during atrial fibrillation (AF). We have recently proposed a statistical AV node model defined by parameters characterizing the arrival rate of atrial impulses, the probability of an impulse choosing the slower of the two AV nodal pathways, the refractory periods of the pathways, and the prolongation of refractory periods. All model parameters are estimated from the RR series using maximum likelihood estimation, except for the mean arrival rate of atrial impulses which is estimated by the AF frequency derived from the f-waves. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between the probability γ of an atrial impulse to arrive at the slow pathway with the probability α (used in the model) of an impulse to pass through that pathway. A theoretical equation was derived to relate α with γ and viceversa, highlighting the dependence on both refractory periods and their prolongation. Results based on simulations show that the equation was correct, with an average absolute error of 0.0034 ± 0.0008.