A nonfluoroscopic, catheter-based, three-dimensional electroanatomical mapping system (CARTO system, Biosense-Webster, Diamond Bar, CA, USA) has been developed that may aid in ablating complex cardiac tachyarrhythmias. The system uses magnetic technology to accurately determine the three-dimensional location of the mapping and ablation catheter. Recorded data of the catheter location and an int...

One of the many new problems created by cardiac surgery is the management of post-operative disturbances of rhythm. The following observations are based on 48 cases seen during the last 18 months at the Brompton Hospital, where it is our practice to give digitalis before operation to all cardiac cases. Clinically theproblems fall into three main groups: (1) Cases of " tachycardia" which give ri...

node as the region responsible for activation of the heart.1 Laslett first suggested sinus node dysfunction as a cause of bradycardia in 1909, and during the 1950s and 1960s Short, Ferrer, Lown, and others described the clinical spectrum of sinus node dysfunction that is commonly called the “sick sinus syndrome resting sinus bradycardia.”2-5 Sinus node dysfunction can have multiple electrocardi...

Humans spend approximately one third of their lives asleep. Although generally considered to be a peaceful, stable period for the body and mind to rest and heal, sleep in fact represents a complex, dynamic process involving dramatic changes in physiological state. Sleep-related cardiac arrhythmias are very common and often diagnosed incidentally on Holter monitor; the vast majority are benign b...

The aim of this study was to review published data on gender differences in cardiac electrophysiology and in the presentation and clinical treatment of arrhythmias. The evidence from studies published to date show that women have a higher mean resting heart rate, a longer QT interval, a shorter QRS duration, and a lower QRS voltage than men. Women have a higher prevalence of sick sinus syndrome...

Epilepsy, the commonest serious neurological condition, is associated with an increased risk in premature deaths, including an estimated 500 sudden unexpected deaths (SUDEP) per year in the UK. In some patients seizures are associated with cardiac arrhythmias, which are thought to be a major factor in SUDEP. Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce cardiac arrhythmias in animal studies and...

About one third of patients with Löffler's endomyocardial disease have abnormal electrocardiograms and some develop arrhythmias and die suddenly. To assess the significance of these findings, continuous ambulatory ECG monitoring was performed for 48 hr on 6 patients with acute or chronic forms of Löffler's endomyocardial disease, and the types and frequencies of arrhythmias were compared with r...

Sarcomere protein gene mutations cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease with distinctive histopathology and increased susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias and risk for sudden death. Myocyte disarray (disorganized cell-cell contact) and cardiac fibrosis, the prototypic but protean features of HCM histopathology, are presumed triggers for ventricular arrhythmias that precipitate sudd...

Advanced age alone appears to be a risk factor for increased susceptibility to cardiac arrhythmias. We previously observed in the aged rat heart that sinus rhythm ventricular activation is delayed and characterized by abnormal epicardial patterns although conduction velocity is normal. While these findings relate to an advanced stage of aging, it is not yet known when and how ventricular electr...

Cardiac arrhythmias can be triggered from ischaemic cardiac muscle due to the damage inflicted on individual myocytes. During an ischaemic episode free fatty acids accumulate in the ischaemic tissue. The importance of these fatty acids lies in the apparent ability of some classes of fatty acid to protect against cardiac arrhythmias. As cardiac sudden death is a likely cause of death in patients...