AIMS Atrial fibrillation (AF) is linked to cardiomyocyte apoptosis, leading to atrial remodelling and reduction in electrical conduction velocity. We hypothesized that genetic suppression of an apoptotic key enzyme, caspase 3, would prevent the development of persistent AF by reducing apoptosis which may serve as an arrhythmogenic substrate. METHODS AND RESULTS Atrial fibrillation was induced...

The population of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) continues to expand and emerges to be the most common arrhythmia we deal with. Referrals to centers performing catheter based ablation procedures for AF also continue to grow as catheter ablation becomes an increasingly accepted therapeutic approach. In this article we will describe the infrastructure we have developed to manage our atria...

Epicardial potential mapping is an efficient way to visualize the potential distribution on the epicardial surface. We found in our previous study, that the traditional linear interpolation used for the epicardial mapping may cause errors and distortions in reconstruction of the electric activities on the epicardial surface especially during the atrial fibrillation. In this study, we devoted on...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a very common dysrhythmia presenting to Emergency Departments (EDs). Controversy exists regarding the optimal clinical therapy for these patients, which typically focuses on rhythm rate-control and admission or cardioversion and discharge home. CLINICAL QUESTION Is ED cardioversion of recent-onset atrial fibrillation safe, effective, and does it result i...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice. Elective electrical cardioversion is often performed in patients with persistent AF to attempt sinus rhythm (SR) restoration. However, AF recurrences are frequent after successful cardioversion and several predictors have been identified. AIM OF THE STUDY The present study was designed to prosp...

BACKGROUND Anisotropy of conduction facilitates re-entry and is, therefore, a key determinant of the stability of atrial fibrillation (AF). Little is known about the effect of AF on atrial bundle architecture and consequent changes in anisotropy of conduction and maintenance of AF. METHODS AND RESULTS Direct contact mapping was performed in left atria of goats with acute AF (n=6) or persisten...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common form of arrhythmia in the world. As the population ages, it is estimated that the prevalence of AF will increase by 2.5 fold in the next 50 years.1 At the same time, diabetes has become a pandemic disease in the western world as well as in developing countries. Independent risk factors for chronic AF include hypertension, heart failure, valvular heart...

AIMS It has been reported that an inflammatory process is involved in the development of atrial fibrillation (AF). In this study, we examined the hypothesis that a pre-existent inflammatory response may enhance the recurrence of AF after catheter ablation (CA). METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 257 consecutive AF patients undergoing CA were enrolled in this study. The C-reactive protein was asse...

To evaluate the significance of the signal-averaged P wave in various pathological conditions of the atrium, signal-averaged electrocardiograms and echocardiograms were studied in the following 4 groups: (1) 10 normal subjects (control group), (2) 24 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation or flutter (AF) (AF group), (3) 12 patients with left atrial overload without AF (LA group), and (4) ...