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Intensive Care Medicine
Published in: Intensive Care Medicine 6/2003

01-06-2003 | Original

Circadian variation in ventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation in a medical-cardiological ICU

Authors: Georg Delle Karth, Peter Reinelt, Anton Buberl, Alexander Geppert, Martin Huelsmann, Rudolf Berger, Gottfried Heinz

Published in: Intensive Care Medicine | Issue 6/2003

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Abstract

Objective

To assess the diurnal distribution of ventricular tachycardia (VT) and atrial fibrillation (AF) in critically ill patients.

Design and setting

Prospective observational study (episode-based design) in an eight-bed medical/cardiological ICU at a university hospital that also admits postoperative patients.

Patients

98 consecutive patients with AF (n=55) or ventricular tachycardia (n=43).

Measurements and results

There were a total of 218 arrhythmia episodes (83 AF, 136 VT). The time of arrhythmia onset was not evenly distributed. Circadian variation in VT but not AF onset was well represented by a sine wave function. Both VT and AF fibrillation showed a trough during the night. The distribution of VT and AF episodes did not differ significantly with or without analgosedation.

Conclusions

In critically ill patients the onset of VT and AF over 24-h is nonuniformly distributed. In VT this circadian pattern of occurrence is well modeled by a sine wave function peaking between noon and 2 p.m. The circadian pattern is less clear for AF. The circadian variation is seen irrespective of the presence of absence of analgosedation for both arrhythmias.
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Metadata
Title
Circadian variation in ventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation in a medical-cardiological ICU
Authors
Georg Delle Karth
Peter Reinelt
Anton Buberl
Alexander Geppert
Martin Huelsmann
Rudolf Berger
Gottfried Heinz
Publication date
01-06-2003
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Intensive Care Medicine / Issue 6/2003
Print ISSN: 0342-4642
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1238
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-003-1735-x

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