Effect of Acute Cigarette Smoking on Atrial Impulse Propagation

Introduction: Acute cigarette smoking has been associated with sympathetic hyperactivity. We therefore sought to determine whether acute cigarette smoking alters atrial impulse propagation. Materials and Methods: Twenty healthy smokers with a history of active smoking were included to the study. The 12-leads surface ECG recorded at a pepper speed of 50 mm/s was obtained from all participants before and average 15 minutes after smoking one cigarette.Results: The change in maximum and minimum P wave duration was measured manually and difference between two values was defined as P wave dispersion (PWD). Both maximum P wave duration and PWD remained unchanged while heart rate significantly increased after smoking one cigarette (104 ± 10 vs. 105 ± 7 ms, p> 0.05; 38 ± 10 vs. 42 ± 8 ms, p> 0.05, and 66 ± 5 vs. 72 ± 8 beat/min, p< 0.05, respectively).Conclusion: We found that acute cigarette smoking alone did not alter atrial impulse propagation in chronic smokers.