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
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for the prevention of arrhythmia recurrence after electrical cardioversion of chronic persistent atrial fibrillation: a randomized, double-blind, multicentre study.
Persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) often recurs after direct current electrical cardioversion (ECV). As several experimental and clinical studies suggest that n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) may have antiarrhythmic properties even at the atrial level, we aimed to evaluate whether oral supplementation with PUFAs, in addition to conventional antiarrhythmic drugs, could reduce the recurrence rate of the arrhythmia after ECV of persistent AF. ⋯ Our results do not support the hypothesis that, in patients undergoing ECV of chronic persistent AF, supplementation with PUFAs in addition to the usual antiarrhythmic treatment reduces recurrent AF.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Temporary transfemoral cardiac pacing is widely accepted, but is associated with high incidence of asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which in turn is associated with restricted patient mobility. The passive-fixation lead typically used in this procedure restricts patient mobility during implantation. ⋯ In the 75% of patients with moderate or high mobility, there were no DVT cases. The 6.4% DVT incidence was limited to patients with low mobility and was significantly lower than the norm for this procedure. A larger, randomized study is needed to confirm the benefits of the mobility allowed by an active-fixation lead.
-
We thought to evaluate feasibility of continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitoring during procedures of interventional electrophysiology. ⋯ In conclusion, continuous non-invasive BP monitoring is feasible in the clinical practise of an interventional electrophysiology laboratory without the need of utilization of an intra-arterial BP line.