OBJECTIVE We prospectively tested the hypothesis that atrial enlargement and increased level of atrial natriuretic peptide, N-terminal atrial natriuretic peptide and brain natriuretic peptide would predict atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting. METHODS Eighty-eight elective coronary artery bypass grafting patients had preoperative echocardiographic assessment. The level of...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Recent randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have evaluated the benefit of new oral anticoagulants in reducing the risk of vascular events and bleeding complications in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, abundant and strict enrollment criteria may limit the validity and applicability of results of RCTs to clinical practice. We estimated the eligibility for parti...

BACKGROUND The most important complication of atrial fibrillation (AF) is thromboembolic stroke. Although AF-related remodeling is considered important in atrial thrombogenesis, its role never has been directly tested. This study assessed effects of AF-related remodeling on the atrial thrombogenic milieu by using radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to create a quantifiable prothrombotic nidus. METH...

Recognition that the initiation of atrial fibrillation often is dependent on arrhythmogenic foci within the pulmonary veins1 opened a new chapter in our understanding of the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation, which in turn has led to dramatic improvements in our ability to ablate atrial fibrillation. Based on experimental studies and clinical studies that used a variety of catheter and surgical...

We report a case of bi-atrial thrombi traversing the atrioventricular valves in 72-year-old female with multiple thromboembolic phenomena. Right atrial thrombus can be seen patients who are immobilized for long period time and those deep vein thrombosis pulmonary embolism. And left may present fibrillation but not common sinus rhythm. This patient is unique having both atria. She initially pres...

Aging and glycolytic inhibition (GI) are known to alter intracellular calcium ion (Ca(i)(2+)) handling in cardiac myocytes, causing early afterpotentials (EADs) and delayed afterpotentials. We hypothesized that aging and GI interact synergistically in intact hearts to generate EADs and triggered activity leading to atrial fibrillation (AF). We studied isolated and Langendorff-perfused hearts of...

BACKGROUND In animal studies, atrial fibrillation has been shown to shorten the atrial refractory period and impair its rate adaptation. However, little is known about the effects of chronic atrial fibrillation on atrial electrophysiology and its recovery course in humans. METHODS AND RESULTS Nineteen patients, mean age 64 +/- 14 years, with chronic atrial fibrillation of more than six months...