Abbreviations: ACUTE 5 Assessment of Cardioversion Using Transesophageal Echocardiography; AF 5 atrial fibrillation; AFASAK 5 Atrial Fibrillation Aspirin and Anticoagulation; AFI 5 Atrial Fibrillation Investigators; BAATAF 5 Boston Area Anticoagulation Trial for Atrial Fibrillation; CAFA 5 Canadian Atrial Fibrillation Anticoagulation; CI 5 confidence interval; DC 5 direct current; EAFT 5 Europe...

Objectives: Dual pathways have a determinant role in the occurrence of atrio nodal tachyarrhythmia (AVNRT). The aim of present study is to determine the role of slow pathway (SP) in the concealment zone and protective role of AV node during atrial fibrillation (AF). Material &Methods: In 7 isolated nodal rabbit preparation zone of concealment and concealed conduction is quantified by Specif...

A large randomized placebo-controlled trial (GISSI-AF) involving patients with prior atrial fibrillation (AF) found that the angiotensin receptor blocker valsartan did not reduce the incidence of recurrent AF [1]. The low prevalence of heart failure or left ventricular dysfunction may have contributed to the lack of effect since secondary analyses of randomized trials performed for other reason...

Background-—Left atrial appendage (LAA) exclusion has been performed in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) to prevent thrombus formation and subsequent cardioembolic events. Left atrial electrical remodeling is a recognized factor in the recurrence of AF. The effects of LAA exclusion on P-wave characteristics and left atrial electrical remodeling have not been well described. The purpose of...

We evaluated the relation of atrial rhythm to a clinical course of treatment in 147 patients diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Thirty-six of the patients (24%) had either transient (9 patients) or persistent (27 patients) atrial fibrillation (AF). Compared with DCM patients with sinus rhythm (SR), the AF patients did not differ in age, left ventricular (LV) dimension, fractional shor...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common postoperative arrhythmias in patients who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of preoperative atorvastatin on postoperative atrial fibrillation following coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass (CCABG). One hundred consecutive patients undergoing elective CCABG, wi...

INTRODUCTION Right atrial compartmentalization has been demonstrated to only reduce the number of atrial fibrillation (AF) episodes; left atrial (LA) fibrillation still occurs. METHODS AND RESULTS We report successful LA compartmentalization resulting in isolation of all four pulmonary veins in a 51-year-old woman suffering from paroxysmal AF. Deployment of a complete encircling line resulted...

BACKGROUND The effect of a hybrid intravenous and oral prophylactic amiodarone regimen on postcardiothoracic surgery (CTS) atrial fibrillation (AF) is unknown. The impact of active atrial septal pacing on post-CTS AF has not been well characterized. In addition, the effect of using both amiodarone and atrial septal pacing together to prevent atrial fibrillation is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS...

The term "Electrophysiological remodeling" defines the changes of atrial electrophysiologic properties taking place in atrial myocites during atrial fibrillation and/or following periods of sustained atrial fibrillation (AF). Early research was prompted by clinical observations: many patients were seen to get through increasingly frequent and longer paroxisms of AF to persistent AF, until chron...

Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) are an effective and safe therapeutic option for venous thromboembolism or nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Four trials on non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients (RE-LY for dabigatran, ROCKET-AF for rivaroxaban, ARISTOTLE for apixaban, and the ENGAGE-AF for edoxaban) evaluated the efficacy and safety of DOACs in comparison to vitamin K antagonists (VK...