EFFECT OF ETIOLOGY, AGE AND LEFT ATRIAL SIZE ON F-WAVE AMPLITUDE OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION
Since there have been no available reports on a relation of the f-wave size to left atrial dimension (LAD) in atrial fibrillation (Af), 31 patients with Af were selected and divided into two groups according to presence or absence of mitral valve disease (MVD) in order to measure f-wave amplitude in lead V1 on electrocardiogram and LAD measured on echocardiogram. While the age between the two groups did not differ significantly, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in f-wave size and LAD between the two groups. Both f-wave size and LAD were found to be significantly large in the group with MVD. While the correlation of age with f-wave size and with LAD was poor, that of f-wave size with LAD between the two groups was weakly positive (r= +0.53). It may, therefore, be postulated that in patients with MVD and with large f-wave the left atrium is enlarged, and that most of patients with f-wave size of greater than 1.5 mm or with LAD over 40 mm have MVD.
