BACKGROUND Genome-wide studies reveal that genetic variants at chromosome 4q25 constitute the strongest locus associated with atrial fibrillation, the most frequent arrhythmia. However, the mechanisms underlying this association are unknown. Our goal is to find and characterize left atrial-expressed transcripts in the chromosome 4q25 atrial fibrillation risk locus that may play a role in atrial...

pacing-induced atrial fibrillation. Eur Heart J 1999; 20 (Abstr Suppl): 226 (abstr.). [10] Levy S, Breithardt G, Campbell RWF et al. On behalf of the Working Group on Arrhythmias of the European Society of Cardiology. Atrial fibrillation: current knowledge and recommendations for management. Eur Heart J 1998; 19: 1294– 1320. [11] Roijer A, Eskilsson J, Olsson B. Transoesophageal echocardiograph...

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of stroke. We present a 45-year-old woman with left hemisphere stroke, in which two sources of cerebral embolism were detected: atrial fibrillation and stenosis of intracranial part of left internal carotid artery. Oral anticoagulant therapy was used. The patient was qualified for intracranial revascularization. During anticoagulant therapy iatrogen...

Tilz RR et al. Impact of pulmonary vein anatomy assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging on endo-scopic pulmonary vein isolation in consecutive patients. Impact of pharmacological autonomic blockade on complex fractionated atrial electrograms. A et al. Prospective assessment of late conduction recurrence across radiofrequency lesions producing electrical disconnection at the pulmonary vei...

BACKGROUND The cardiac autonomic nervous system plays an essential role in epicardial ganglionated plexi (GP) regulation of atrial fibrillation onset and progression. To date, the activity of GP and the function of the cardiac autonomic nervous system are not well understood. The aim of this study was to determine alterations in epicardial GP cholinergic nerve, adrenergic nerve, and nerve growt...

This case report describes a patient who developed palpitations and chest pain and was found to be in atrial fibrillation, which was likely due to the presence of an extra-cardiac mass. This was compressing the left atrium. The mass was related to small cell carcinoma, which decreased significantly in size after chemotherapy. Resolution of the atrial fibrillation correlated temporally with redu...

BACKGROUND To evaluate, with different pacing modes, acute changes in left ventricular systolic function, obtained by continuous cardiac output thermodilution in various subsets of patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Increments of mean arterial pressure and cardiac output were considered the end point. METHODS Fifty cases electively submitted to cardiac surgery were analyzed. ...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Correlation between left atrial app...

BACKGROUND We conducted a randomized, controlled trial of circumferential pulmonary-vein ablation for the treatment of chronic atrial fibrillation. METHODS A total of 146 patients with a mean (+/-SD) age of 57+/-9 years who had chronic atrial fibrillation were randomly assigned to receive amiodarone and undergo two cardioversions during the first three months alone (the control group) or in c...

AIM We validated transthoracic echocardiographic measurements of left atrial appendage flow velocity by comparing them with transoesophageal echocardiographic measurements. METHODS AND RESULTS Eighty-four consecutive patients (mean age, 64.6 years) with various cardiac diseases, who underwent both transthoracic echocardiography and transoesophageal echocardiography were studied. Thirty-two pa...