Esophageal Long-Term ECG Reveals Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

• DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.111.080762
• Publication Date: 2012-05-08T03:50:14Z
• Authors: Andreas Haeberlin; Thomas Niederhauser; Thanks Marisa; Daniel Mattle; Marcel Jacomet; Josef Goette; Hildegard Tanner; Rolf Vogel
• Keywords: Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

A 79-year-old man was referred for coronary angiography because of atypical chest pain. The patient's medical history included a myocardial infarction 5 years previously and well-controlled arterial hypertension. Three months before this admission he reported atypical chest pain, sometimes associated with palpitations lasting seconds up to a few minutes. Hence, he underwent ambulant 24-hour ECG, which revealed frequent atrial premature beats but no other arrhythmia. On admission, the patient was in sinus rhythm. Echocardiography showed normal ventricular function without structural heart disease. After successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, the patient was included in a study …