Little is known about the long-term prognosis of or predictors for the different clinical types of atrial fibrillation (AF) in Korean populations. The aim of this study was to validate a risk stratification to assess the probability of AF progression from paroxysmal AF (PAF) to persistent AF (PeAF) or permanent AF. A total of 434 patients with PAF were consecutively enrolled (mean age; 71.7 ± 1...

AIMS The complex relationship between left atrial (LA) structure and function, electrical burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) and stroke risk is not well understood. We aimed to describe LA structure and function in AF. METHODS AND RESULTS Left atrial structure and function was assessed in 971 subjects enrolled in the echocardiographic substudy of ENGAGE AF-TIMI 48. Left atrial size, emptying ...

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an important device-based, non-pharmacological approach that has shown, in large randomized trials, to improve left ventricular (LV) function and reduce both morbidity and mortality rates in selected patients affected by advanced heart failure (HF): New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III-IV, reduced LV systolic function with an ejection...

Rhodococcus rhodochrous S-2 produces extracellular polysaccharides (S-2 EPS) containing D-glucose, D-galactose, D-mannose, D-glucuronic acid, and lipids, which is important to the tolerance of this strain to an aromatic fraction of (AF) Arabian light crude oil (N. Iwabuchi, N. Sunairi, H. Anzai, M. Nakajima, and S. Harayama, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66:5073-5077, 2000). In the present study, w...

BACKGROUND Euphorbia hirta has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory activity. This study was carried out to determine the prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) inhibition activity of the fractions of the E. hirta aqueous extract on rabbit synovial fibroblast cells (HIG-82). METHODS E. hirta aqueous extract was fractionated into five fractions (fractions A, B, C, D, and E) by reversed phase flash c...

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia affecting more than 2 million people in North America. Radio-frequency (RF) and cryo ablations of the left atrium (LA) are effective for symptomatic, drug refractory AF patients. Reported success rates of the procedure vary significantly with AF recurrences ranging from 25-50%. Many AF recurrences occur early after the pr...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and has become a serious public health problem. Moreover, epidemiological data demonstrate that incidence and prevalence of AF are increasing. Several differences in epidemiological patterns, clinical manifestations, and incidence of stroke have been reported between AF in women and in men, particularly in elderly women. Elderly women have ...

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common sustained cardiac arrhythmia associated with increased risks of heart failure, left ventricle (LV) dysfunction, and known to cause an increase in left atrium (LA) volume with decrease in atrial contractility. Cine magnetic resonance images (MRI) were used to measure changes in LA and LV function in a chronic AF goat model. Ejection fraction (EF), ...