Influence of age on atrial activation as measured by the P-wave signal-averaged electrocardiogram.

We used the P-wave signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG) prospectively in 93 healthy volunteers of different ages and observed: (1) a positive correlation between P-wave duration on the SAECG and age (r = 0.39, p < 0.0001); and (2) the proportion of subjects with prolonged P-wave duration was increased with older age. These findings confirm the hypothesis that age-related atrial conduction delay in healthy subjects is present, and detectable by the P-wave SAECG.

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