BACKGROUND Little is known about the relationship between intrinsic cardiac nerve activity (ICNA) and spontaneous arrhythmias in ambulatory animals. METHODS AND RESULTS We implanted radiotransmitters to record extrinsic cardiac nerve activity (ECNA; including stellate ganglion nerve activity and vagal nerve activity) and ICNA (including superior left ganglionated plexi nerve activity and liga...

A 32-year-old woman with a past medical history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, long QT syndrome, and implantation of an automatic iimplantable cardioverter-defibrillator (AICD) following cardiac arrest presented with disabling symptoms of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation due to recurrent AICD shocks. Before curative ablation, transesophageal echocardiography was performed to assess for existi...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation is associated with increased risk of stroke and thromboembolism, possibly by conferring a prothrombotic or hypercoagulable state. However, it is unclear whether or not this differs in the clinical subgroups of chronic atrial fibrillation patients, that is, in those with paroxysmal, persistent or permanent atrial fibrillation. We therefore hypothesized that: (i) th...

Aims Atrial fibrillation represents a frequent and potentially life-threatening arrhythmia in patients with accessory atrioventricular pathways. Radiofrequency ablation has become the curative treatment of first choice for these patients. Investigations after successful surgical pathway dissection reported an almost complete elimination of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. However, there are only...

AIMS To characterize the nature and timing of atrial ectopics preceding clinical episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. METHODS AND RESULTS Holter recordings (n= 177, 60 patients, 58% male, mean age 61.7 +/- 11.5 years) were performed on patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. These were subjected to standard analysis and recordings containing atrial fibrillation episodes suitable ...

Atrial fibrillation is a heterogeneous disorder that is usually characterized by paroxysmal onset, particularly in patients without structural heart disease. Defining biological markers of atrial remodelling would help identify patients at high risk who would benefit most from prophylactic treatment and careful monitoring. Biomarkers of atrial fibrillation progression would be helpful for follo...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the incremental antifibrillatory effect of multisite atrial pacing compared with right atrial pacing in patients with drug refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation paced for arrhythmia prevention alone. METHODS In 20 of these patients (mean (SD) age 64 (8) years; 14 female, six male), a single blinded randomised crossover study was performed to investigate the increment...

BACKGROUND The long-term natural history of lone atrial fibrillation is unknown. Our objective was to determine the rate and predictors of progression from paroxysmal to permanent atrial fibrillation over 30 years and the long-term risk of heart failure, thromboembolism, and death compared with a control population. METHODS AND RESULTS A previously characterized Olmsted County, Minnesota, pop...

BACKGROUND Ambulatory outpatients (n = 150) with a history of paroxysmal supraventricular arrhythmia were studied to establish the characteristics of the first recurrence of symptomatic tachycardia (time to first recurrence, heart rate during tachycardia, and observed rhythm that was regular versus irregular) when no antiarrhythmic drug was being taken. Baseline variables were examined to asses...