Voltage-gated sodium (Na) channels, transmembrane proteins that produce the ionic current responsible for the rapid upstroke of the cardiac action potential, are key elements required for rapid conduction through the myocardium and maintenance of the cardiac rhythm. The exquisite sensitivity of the cardiac rhythm to Na channel function is manifest in the proarrhythmic complications of "antiarrh...

Maria Grazia Bongiorni, MD, Luca Segreti, MD, Andrea Di Cori, MD, Matthew Bonner, PhD, Michael Eggen, PhD, Pamela Omdahl, PhD From the Second Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Cardiac-Thoracic and Vascular Department, Cisanello Hospital, University of Pisa, Italy, Medtronic Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure Research, Mounds View, Minnesota, and Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure Procedure Devel...

       We are presenting a case illustrating atrial fibrillation (AF) following the use of methylprednisolone in a patient with pelvic and femur fracture. A 48- year- old man with no significant past medical history, was admitted to the emergency department after injury in a car accident. He suffered a multiple bone fracture with chief complaints of pain and shortness of breath. He was transfer...

Kawasaki disease is an acute inflammatory disorder of medium-sized arteries that predominantly affects cardiac coronary arteries and children under the age of 5 years. Cardiac involvement usually happens later than 10 days after the onset of illness. Most of cardiac complications are coronary artery abnormalities (ectasia or aneurysms) and subclinical myocarditis. Clinical myocarditis (symptoma...

myocardial infarction and tobacco smoking: risk of heart rhythm and conduction disorders e imani , msc n hajizadeh , bs z khademy , msc f naghizadeh , bsc received: 6 aug, 2009 accepted: 17 oct, 2009 abstract background & aims: smoking increases risk of myocardial infarction and its complications. in addition, it increases blood pressure, heart rate and vasoconstriction. the purpose of this res...

BACKGROUND Twenty-four-hour Holter monitoring (24HM) is commonly used to assess cardiac rhythm after surgical therapy of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, this "snapshot" documentation leaves a considerable diagnostic window and only stores short-time cardiac rhythm episodes. To improve accuracy of rhythm surveillance after surgical ablation therapy and to compare continuous heart rhythm surve...