Ventriculoatrial conduction in swine during cardiac pacing: Animal model for retrograde conduction☆

Abstract Studies on cardiac conduction disorders and pacemaker tachycardias are usually conducted in patients because the phenomenon of ventriculoatrial (retrograde) conduction resulting from ectopic beats and pacing the ventricles has only been reported in humans. This study was conducted to characterize the ventriculoatrial (VA) conduction and retrograde P wave electrogram (EGM) amplitude and slew rate in 10 anesthetized pigs. Three transvenous pacemaker leads were positioned in the heart: one in the right atrial appendage, one in the sinoatrial (SA) node region, and another in the apex of the right ventricle. Ventriculoatrial conduction always occurred when the heart was paced from the right ventricle. There was a significant difference ( p p