In this issue of iJACC, Martinez et al. (1) report their experience with cardiac computed tomography (CCT) to detect left atrial appendage thrombi in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing pulmonary vein radiofrequency ablation. Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common cardiovascular disorders, carrying significant morbidity, including cardio-embolic stroke and heart failure. Slow fl...

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of development of chronic nonrheumatic atrial fibrillation within one year of onset, thereby minimizing the risk of embolic complications and death. We retrospectively studied 137 patients with new-onset nonrheumatic atrial fibrillation. Chronic atrial fibrillation developed in 30 patients at the end of one year (chronic group). Atrial fibril...

In an attempt to define quantitatively the relation between left atrial size and atrial fibrillation, echocardiography was used to study 85 patients with isolated mitral valve disease, 50 patients with isolated aortic valve disease, and 130 patients with asymmetric septal hypertrophy. In all three groups of patients, atrial fibrillation was rare when left atrial dimension was below 44 mm (3 of ...

BACKGROUND The minor technical and time requirements with respect to the maze operation combined with a comparable efficacy has led to an increasing popularity of left atrial approaches to treat atrial fibrillation. We report our experience with a left atrial procedure based on extensive use of epicardial radiofrequency ablation in an effort to minimize cardiac arrest time. METHODS A total of...

A37-year-old man with frequent episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation refractory to antiarrhythmic therapy (and no other documented arrhythmias on multiple Holter examinations) underwent an attempt at radiofrequency ablation of the atrial fibrillation. Catheter positions are shown in the left anterior oblique view in Figure 1 and include 2 catheters in the left and right upper pulmonary vei...

background: selenium (se) is an essential trace element mainly obtained from seafood, meat, and cereals. se deficiency has been identified as a major contributing factor in the pathogenesis of certain congestive heart failure (chf) syndromes. since there is controversy over the prevalence of se deficiency among patient with chf, the aim of this study was to assess the serum se concentrations in...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation is common in advanced heart failure, but its prognostic significance is controversial. METHODS AND RESULTS We evaluated the relation of atrial rhythm to overall survival and sudden death in 390 consecutive advanced heart failure patients. Etiology of heart failure was coronary artery disease in 177 patients (45%) and nonischemic cardiomyopathy or valvular heart ...

Atrial fibrillation is a widespread disease and highly relevant as it carries an extended risk for ischaemic stroke. Surgical closure of the left atrial appendage is routinely performed during open heart surgery in patients with atrial fibrillation with the aim of thromboembolic protection. In this report we present a successful percutaneous closure of a left atrial appendage, which showed clin...

BACKGROUND Single-ring isolation of the posterior left atrium is feasible, but the incidence and mechanisms of postprocedural arrhythmias have not been described in detail. METHODS AND RESULTS The first 100 consecutive patients (58.8+/-11.2 years old, 80 male) who underwent single-ring isolation for atrial fibrillation (66 intermittent, 18 persistent, 16 long-standing persistent) were followe...