Abstract

Major cardiac organisations recommend U wave abnormalities should be reported during ECG interpretation. However, U waves cannot be measured in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) due to the obscuring fibrillatory wave. The aim was to validate a U wave measurement algorithm for AF patients. Multi-beat averaging was applied to ECGs of 25 patients during paroxysms of AF and the presence of U waves compared to those from the same patients during sinus rhythm (SR). In a further database of 10 long-term AF recordings, the number of beats for effective U wave extraction by the algorithm was calculated. U waves were revealed in all AF recordings and there was no significant difference between the presence of U waves in AF and SR (p = 0.88). U wave amplitude was significantly increased in AF (mean (s.d.) amplitude 55 (39) AF vs 37 (28) μV SR, p = 0.005). The presence of U waves could easily be discerned when as few as 10 beats were used in the algorithm. The study demonstrates the validity of the algorithm to reveal U waves in AF recordings. The algorithm offers the potential to detect U wave abnormalities in patients with AF.

Details

Title
Validation of an algorithm to reveal the U wave in atrial fibrillation
Author
Al-Karadi, M S 1 ; Wilkinson, A J 1 ; Caldwell, J 2 ; Langley, P 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Hull, Hull, England, UK 
 Castle Hill Hospital, Hull & East Yorkshire NHS Trust, Hull, England, UK 
Pages
1-8
Publication year
2018
Publication date
Aug 2018
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2086245979
Copyright
© 2018. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.