Can local ventricular fibrillation interval predict ventricular refractory period in human hearts?

Assessment of the spatial dispersion of ventricular refractory periods has become an important part of electrophysiological study in both experimental and clinical settings, because inhomogeneity of ventricular refractoriness is associated with an increased risk of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Previous animal studies in dog and sheep have demonstrated that local ventricular fibrillation (VF) intervals measured from the heart surface correlate well with the ventricular effective refractory periods measured from the same ventricular sites. We hypothesise that local VF intervals may also predict the ventricular refractory periods in human hearts, hence, can be used to assess the spatial dispersion of refractoriness and to predict the risk of ventricular arrhythmias.