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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Comparative Study
New electrocardiographic criteria to differentiate the Type-2 Brugada pattern from electrocardiogram of healthy athletes with r'-wave in leads V1/V2.
Diagnosis of Type-2 Brugada pattern remains challenging and it could be confused with other electrocardiogram (ECG) patterns presenting an r'-wave in leads V1-V2 like in healthy athletes. This could impact their ability to perform competitive sports. The aim of the study was to evaluate, as a proof of concept, the new ECG criteria to differentiate the Type-2 Brugada pattern from the ECG pattern of healthy athletes depicting an r'-wave in leads V1-V2. ⋯ The three new ECG criteria were accurate to distinguish the Type-2 Brugada pattern from the ECG pattern with an r'-wave in healthy athletes. The duration of the base of the triangle at 0.5 mV from the high take-off is the easiest to measure and may be used in clinical practice.
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In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), echocardiographic tissue velocity imaging (TVI) enables assessment of electrical and structural remodelling by measuring, respectively, the AF cycle length (AFCL-TVI) and the atrial fibrillatory wall motion velocity (AFV-TVI). We investigated the clinical and echocardiographic correlates of atrial remodelling assessed by TVI. ⋯ This study investigated the clinical and echocardiographic correlates of atrial remodelling assessed by TVI. The AFV-TVI is reduced in patients with a long AF duration and who have mitral regurgitation. In addition, the AFCL is long if LAVI is high and LVEF preserved. Tissue velocity imaging parameters measured during AF may be helpful to characterize the degree of atrial remodelling and optimize treatment.
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Previous studies have suggested a lower risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) with higher intakes of fish and marine n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), but the results have been inconsistent. The aim was to investigate the association between consumption of marine n-3 PUFA and development of AF. ⋯ We found a U-shaped association between consumption of marine n-3 PUFA and risk of incident AF, with the lowest risk close to the median intake of total marine n-3 PUFA (0.63 g/day).
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Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has a well-documented positive effect on mortality and heart failure morbidity. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term survival and the predictive value of self-assessed functional status on the long-term prognosis of patients treated with CRT-pacemaker (CRT-P). ⋯ Real-life patient characteristics and predictors of outcome compare well with those in published prospective trials. Self-assessed functional status is a strong predictor of long-term survival, which may have implications for a more active follow-up of patients without spontaneous improvement.