Effects of anaesthesia on atrial fibrillation organization during catheter ablation procedures

Effect of anaesthetic agents in restoration rhythm procedures during atrial fibrillation (AF) has not been fully investigated. Intra-atrial recordings belong to 27 patients diagnosed with AF were analyzed ldquobeforerdquo (baseline) and ldquoduringrdquo anaesthetic infusion. Organization measurements were evaluated in time-domain and frequency-domain, as well as approaches from non linear analysis. The frequency domain measurements showed that the average AF cycle length increased as an effect of anaesthesia. The results of time and frequency linear organization measurements showed a higher correlation during the anaesthetic infusion in the right atrium with an opposite effect in the left atrium. The same effects were corroborated with entropy analysis. The proposed methodology provide additional insights to the understanding of the role of the anaesthetic, by suggesting increased parasympathetic activation at atrial level.