BACKGROUND The incidence of sick sinus syndrome will increase due to population ageing. Consequently, this will result in an increase in the number of pacemaker implantations. The atrial lead is usually implanted in the right atrial appendage, but this position may be ineffective for prevention of atrial fibrillation. It has been suggested that pacing distally in the coronary sinus might be mor...

Two-dimensional echocardiographic studies were performed in 293 patients with rheumatic heart disease who underwent open-heart mitral valve surgery during an 18-month period. Diagnostic confirmation of a left atrial thrombus was based on direct inspection of the left atrium during surgery and histopathologic examination. Two-dimensional echocardiographic recordings were reviewed. Of the 293 pat...

We performed transesophageal echocardiography in 50 consecutive hospitalized patients with recent transient ischemic attack or stroke of embolic origin to determine whether transesophageal echocardiography is more sensitive than transthoracic echocardiography in detection of possible intracardiac sources of embolism. Twenty-six of 50 patients with a negative transthoracic echocardiogram for pot...

Many new devices and techniques are being developed to attempt a reduction in embolic stroke risk for patients with atrial fibrillation who are either unable or unwilling to maintain long-term anticoagulation. One of these new devices (LARIAT®, SentreHEART Inc., Redwood City, California, USA) employs delivery of an epicardial suture to ligate the left atrial appendage after percutaneous pericar...

AIMS Surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation is now feasible in selective cases. The aim of this study was to assess the electrophysiological properties of patients undergoing atrial compartment operation for chronic atrial fibrillation. METHODS AND RESULTS Electrophysiological studies were performed in 20 mitral valve patients with atrial fibrillation who had been maintained in sinus rhyt...

Atrial fibrillation is a common arrhythmia in clinical practice. It is associated with high morbidity and mortality due to its thromboembolic potential, which makes thromboembolic prevention particularly important. Warfarin has been the first-line therapy for this purpose, but it has various limitations and is often contraindicated or underutilized. The fact that thrombi are frequently located ...

Introduction: Rheumatic heart disease still remains a common health problem and an important cause of morbidity and mortality in all age group. Mitral stenosis is the most common cardiac valve lesion involved in rheumatic heart disease. This can cause serious complications if left untreated and can lead to enlargement of the left atrium and stasis of blood which increases risk of clot formation...

INTRODUCTION Mitral stenosis (MS) causes structural and functional abnormalities of the left atrium (LA) and left atrial appendage (LAA), and studies show that LAA performance improves within a short time after percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC). This study aimed to investigate the effects of PTMC on left atrial function by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). METHODS We...

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...

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...