Evaluating the atrial
substrate
Adverse atrial remodeling is multi-faceted and likely to be driven by
disease processes that increase AF risk. Consequently, remodeling
phenomena are unlikely to follow a stereotyped process and the nature of
the arrhythmogenic substrate will vary depending on the circumstances
and clinical profile of the patient. Despite these challenges, the
alterations in electrophysiological properties have been proposed to
manifest as a reduction in bipolar voltage and thus be an effective
means of discriminating arrhythmogenic tissue from healthy areas within
the left atrium, and particularly a marker for atrial fibrosis.