Atrial infarction is found in approximately 17 percent of autopsy-proven cases of myocardial infarction, but is a frequently missed clinical diagnosis. The antemortem diagnosis of atrial infarction occurring in the absence of ventricular infarction has not been previously reported. We present a patient with ischemic chest discomfort associated with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Electrocardiog...

Incidence, determinants, and outcome of atrial fibrillation in hypertensive subjects are incompletely known. We followed for up to 16 years 2482 initially untreated subjects with essential hypertension. At entry, all subjects were in sinus rhythm. Subjects with valvular heart disease, coronary artery disease, preexcitation syndrome, thyroid disorders, or lung disease were excluded. During follo...

A simplified predictor of episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is presented. Over a thirty minute monitoring time, the number of premature atrial complexes (PAC) without normal sinus node reset is counted. When the number of such PACs changes by more than 2 over the monitoring period, a PAF prediction is made. The PAC test is supplemented with a paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PAT) t...

AF ablation can be curative or reduce the symptoms of AF. However, success rates are suboptimal while procedure times can be long. Since AF ablation depends on excellent tip to tissue contact, ease of use and signal quality, a new ablation catheter (FlexAbilityTM Ablation Catheter, St Jude Medical, St Paul, MN) was designed for use during complex ablation. We report an initial case of its use d...

We present a clinical case on cryoballoon ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. This is a report of the first case performed at our center using this new technology.

In patients with symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation that has not responded to medication, catheter ablation is more effective than antiarrhythmic drug therapy for maintaining sinus rhythm. However, the safety and efficacy of cryoballoon as initial first-line have been established.

Tieleman RG, Grandjean JG, van Gilst WH, Crijns HJ. Gene expression of proteins influencing the calcium homeostasis in patients with persistent and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Cardiovasc Res 1999;42:443–454. 27. Coplen SE, Antman EM, Berlin JA, Hewitt P, Chalmers TC. Efficacy and safety of quinidine therapy for maintenance of sinus rhythm after cardioversion. A meta-analysis of randomized c...

conclusions: catheter ablation of flutter circuit will not prevent later manifestation of af in 16% of the patients undergoing catheter ablation of the typical afl. bmi was the only independent predictor of af following catheter ablation of the typical afl. objectives; to determine long-term incidence and predictors of af after catheter ablation of typical afl. material and methods: between mar...

Recent studies suggest that pulmonary vein isolation can be an effective method of treatment for atrial fibrillation. This procedure can be performed with minimally invasive, totally endoscopic cardiac surgical techniques. We report our first successful endoscopic isolation of the pulmonary veins in a patient with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The procedure consisted of making a box lesion ar...

Background: Surprisingly little information on symptoms of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is available in scientific literature. Using questionnaires, we have analyzed the symptoms associated with arrhythmia attacks. Methods: One hundred randomly-selected patients with idiopathic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation filled in a structured questionnaire. Results: Psychic stress was the most common fac...