Electrophysiological studies in one patient with type B pre-excitation and dual A-V nodal pathway revealed several types of paroxysmal narrow QRS tachycardia (PSVT). One type of PSVT reflected antegrade fast A-V nodal pathway and retrograde anomalous pathway conduction. This PSVT was characterized by early retorgrade activation of right atrial appendage, P following QRS and cycle length of 290 ...

Isolation of the pulmonary vein antrum can terminate atrial fibrillation, but the rationale has not been elucidated. In the present study, we show that sheep atrial effective refractory period (ERP) was heterogeneously shortened by acetylcholine administration. After perfusion with 15 muM acetylcholine, the shortest ERP occurred in the pulmonary vein antrum, which was recorded with the standard...

A clear question arises: why a cheaper, effective, treatment as left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) couldn ́t reach a broader use? The cost of the device for LAAC + procedure itself in Germany is estimated in €9,136 [2], slightly superior to 1-year treatment with PCSK9 inhibitors [1]. The figures are similar in USA: the cost for LAAC procedure + 2 tra...

BACKGROUND In five chronically instrumented conscious dogs, we studied the effects of rapid pacing on sustained electrically induced atrial fibrillation. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-three unipolar atrial electrograms were recorded simultaneously from the bundle of Bachmann and the lateral wall of the right and left atria. During sustained atrial fibrillation, the surface electrocardiogram show...

Although convincing data showed that left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion could be used as an alternative to oral anticoagulants, LAA occlusion has emerged as a common procedure for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation and absolute or relative contraindications for oral anticoagulation in many European centers, based on current recommendations of the European Society of Cardi...

BACKGROUND Although atrial electrical remodeling has been studied extensively in animal models, the reversibility of this phenomenon after termination of clinical atrial fibrillation (AF) has not been demonstrated. We aimed to examine this important question of reversibility by using AF cycle length (AFCL) and coupling intervals of atrial premature beats after cardioversion as measures of atria...

Clipping to sinus rhythm: cardioversion of atrial fibrillation by a thoracoscopic left atrial appendage occlusion Vedran Velagić*, Gian-Battista Chierchia, and Mark La Meir Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 101 Laarbeeklaan, 1090 Brussels, Belgium * Corresponding author. Tel: +385 91 7929284; fax: +322 477 6851, E-mail address: vvel...

A 71-year-old woman presented with dyspnoea and irregular tachycardia. Investigation revealed the presence of pericardial effusion and left intra-auricular mass. The patient was sent to the operation theatre and after pericardial drain, the intra-atrial mass disappeared with retroactive diagnosis of left atrial appendage invagination.