The use of a novel signal analysis to identify the origin of idiopathic right ventricular outflow tract ventricular tachycardia during sinus rhythm: Simultaneous amplitude frequency electrogram transformation mapping

INTRODUCTION: The signal characteristics of intracardiac bipolar electrograms at the origin of idiopathic RVOT-VT during sinus rhythm remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: The study sought to develop a novel real-time/online technique, simultaneous amplitude frequency electrogram transformation (SAFE-T), to quantify and localize the diseased ventricular substrate in idiopathic RVOT-VT. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the intracardiac bipolar recordings in 70 consecutive patients (26% male, mean age 42±12 years) who underwent successful radiofrequency catheter ablation of idiopathic RVOT-VT. We quantified the extent of the frequency fraction of ventricular potentials during sinus rhythm or ventricular pacing using a novel formula, the product of instantaneous amplitude and frequency, and showed that in a 3D geometry as an online SAFE-T map. RESULTS: The characteristics of the HHT spectra of electrograms derived from VT origins demonstrated high frequency components (>70 Hz), which were independent of the rhythm. The density of the abnormal potentials at the VT origins were higher (VT origins, 7.5±2.3 sites/cm(2) vs. surrounding myocardium, 1.5±1.3 sites/cm(2), p<0.001), and were significantly decreased after ablation (0.7±0.6 sites/cm(2), p<0.001). A small region of abnormal potentials were observed in the VT origins (mean area of 1.5±0.8 cm(2)). The SAFE-T maps predicted the VT origins with 92% sensitivity, 78% specificity with optimal cut-off value of >3.0 Hz·mV. CONCLUSION: The online SAFE-T map was feasible for quantifying the diseased ventricular substrate, irrespective of the rhythm of activation, and can be used to identify the optimal ablation targets for idiopathic RVOT-VT. We found a limited region of abnormal potentials where the RVOT-VT origins were successfully ablated.