Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology
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We investigated the accuracy and feasibility of a non-invasive arterial pulse contour technique for continuous measurement of stroke volume (SV) in optimization of atrioventricular (AV) delay in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), by comparing SV changes assessed by Nexfin CO-Trek® (Nexfin) and echo Doppler aortic velocity-time integral (VTIao). Furthermore, we investigated whether AV-delay optimization increases the effect of CRT when compared with a default AV delay (120 ms). ⋯ Individual AV optimization increases the effect of CRT. Nexfin is a promising tool in individual CRT optimization, as Nexfin agrees with VTIao on measuring beat-to-beat SV changes and on assessing relative effects of BiVP on SV at various AV delays.
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Drug-eluting stents for the treatment of pulmonary vein stenosis after atrial fibrillation ablation.
Pulmonary vein (PV) stenosis (PVS) is a complication of radiofrequency PV isolation (PVI). Reported restenosis rates after balloon dilatation and bare-metal stent implantation are high. Drug-eluting stent implantation (DES) has not been reported in the setting of PVS. ⋯ Initial experience with DES for PV stenosis suggests an excellent stent patency rate. Transesophageal echocardiography Doppler measurements provide a viable way of monitoring stent patency.