The Electrophysiologic Basis of Parasystole and its Variants

Development of new electrophysiologic techniques in recent years has led to the experimental reproduction in the animal laboratory, as well as at the bedside, of various cardiac arrhythmias. Hypothetic mechanisms deduced from the analysis of clinical electrocardiograms 4could thus be verified, and new concepts emerged for the understanding of previously obscure causes of certain disorders of the cardiac rhythm (630). One such example is parasystole.