Entropy analysis of atrial activity morphology to study atrial fibrillation recurrences after ablation procedure

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an abnormal heart rhythm originated in the top chambers of the heart. The goal of pulmonary vein ablation for AF is returning to normal heart rhythm; nevertheless restoration of sinus rhythm is difficult to prognostic. In order to predict AF recurrences regularity of atrial activity morphology was studied. Intracardiac recordings from 43 paroxysmal and persistent AF patients registered previous to ablation procedure were monitored after the intervention. Results showed differences in entropy measurements from dipoles located in the right atrium with lower values of entropy in the recurrent group than in group that maintain sinus rhythm (p=0.004). The same trend was showed by entropy measures from spatial correlation between dipoles located in the right atrium, with lower values in the non-recurrent group than in the group with AF recurrence (p=0.009). Moreover, differences between both atria were found in the non-recurrent group 4.11±0.01 in the left atrium vs. 4.07 ± 0.01 in the right atria (p=0.04). These findings show that atrial activity is more regular in the right atrium in the patients with non recurrences in AF.