Transmural recording of shock potential gradient fields, early postshock activations, and refibrillation episodes associated with external defibrillation of long-duration ventricular fibrillation in swine

Compared with previous studies of internal defibrillation, during external defibrillation much less of the shock voltage appears across the heart and the shock field is much more even; however, the minimum ∇V is similar. Compared with external defibrillation of SDVF, the biphasic external DFT for LDVF is not increased; however, time to earliest postshock activation triples. Refibrillation is common after LDVF but not after SDVF in these normal hearts, indicating that LDVF by itself can cause refibrillation without requiring preexisting heart disease.