Abstract:Objective:To study the influence of ablated cardiac fat pad on atrial fibrillation induced by a single extra-stimulus in dogs. Methods: Twenty-two dogs were anesthetized and their chest cavity was openned through a median sternotomy (2 dogs died of fibrillation immediately after opening) to expose the 3 cardiac fat pads: the medial superior vena cava and aortic root fat pad (SVC-Ao FP), the right pulmonary vein-atrial junction fat pad (RPV FP), and the inferior vena cava-left atrial junction fat pad (IVC-LA fat pad). The atrial effective refractory period (AERP), dispersion of AERP (dAERP), and pulmonary vein effective refractory period(PVERP)were measured under baseline and after ablation of the 3 fat pads. The left superior pulmonary veins were stimulated by SiSlbursting stimulation and S1 S2 program stimulation to induce atrial fibrillation before and after ablation. Results: After ablation, AERP increased from (137+16) ms to (147±16) ms and PVERP increased from (131±14) ms to (141±9) ms,while dAERP decreased from (17.0±4. 6) ms to (12.0±4. 3) ms (P〈0.05). After ablation, SISa cycle length decreased from ( 173 ± 25) ms to ( 145 ±21) ms when used for restimulation after ablation( P〈0. 05 ). S1S2 could not induce AF again. Conclusion: Ablation of the 3 cardiac fat pad can influence the electrical remodeling of the atrial and the pulmonary vein,which may hamper the induction of atrial fibrillation.[著者文摘]