The clinical utility of adenosine in difficult to diagnose tachyarrhythmias

The use of intravenous adenosine to help differentiate the origin of tachyarrhythmias has been suggested to be beneficial. However, the benefit of this intervention to physicians with different levels of training in electrocardiographic (ECG) interpretation is unknown.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether intravenous adenosine improved the diagnostic accuracy of difficult to diagnose tachyarrhythmias when used by physicians with different levels of training in ECG interpretation.

We studied 28 consecutive patients presenting with wide and narrow complex tachyarrhythmias, in whom adenosine was given specifically for diagnostic purposes. Two groups of physicians, attending (n = 14) and housestaff (n = 10), reviewed each ECG before and after the administration of adenosine.

For narrow complex tachyarrhythmias, neither physician group derived diagnostic benefit from the use of adenosine. However, for wide complex tachyarrhythmias, the diagnostic accuracy of the housestaff group significantly improved with the use of adenosine (pre = 54%, post = 70%, p < 0.01), while the attending physician group had no significant improvement (pre = 61%, post = 71%, p = NS).

This study suggests that adenosine provides useful diagnostic information to physicians less experienced in ECG interpretation when presented with patients having wide complex tachyarrhythmias of uncertain origin.