Evaluation of a "smart" screening tool for asynchronous assessment of medication abortion eligibility: A pilot study.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the feasibility, safety, and acceptability of asynchronous screening for medication abortion eligibility using a programmed questionnaire.

Study Design: For this study, we developed an informational website about medication abortion with a linked questionnaire programmed to produce a conclusion regarding eligibility according to standard criteria. We enrolled people in Colorado and Minnesota who submitted questionnaires indicating eligibility.

Lacosamide-Induced Recurrent Ventricular Tachycardia in the Acute Care Setting.

Lacosamide is a new-generation antiepileptic drug (AED) most commonly used adjunctively in the setting of partial-onset seizures refractory to traditional therapy. We describe the first case report, to our knowledge, of a patient who developed recurrent, sustained ventricular tachycardia with multiple administrations of lacosamide in an acute setting. A 70-year-old woman with a history significant for valvular heart disease was admitted to the inpatient cardiology service for worsening heart failure.

Outcomes of patients with definite and suspected isolated cardiac sarcoidosis treated with an implantable cardiac defibrillator.

Purpose: Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) patients are at increased risk for sudden death. Isolated CS is rare and can be difficult to diagnose.

Methods: In this multicenter retrospective review, patients with CS and an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) were identified.

Prevention of sudden cardiac death with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in children and adolescents with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in children and adolescents with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Background: HCM is the most common cause of sudden death in the young. The availability of ICDs over the past decade for HCM has demonstrated the potential for sudden death prevention, predominantly in adult patients.

Efficacy and safety of implantable cardiac defibrillators for treatment of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis.

Aims: Implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) implantation is a class IIA recommendation for patients with cardiac sarcoidosis (CS). However, little is known about the efficacy and safety of ICDs in this population. The goal of this multicentre retrospective data review was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ICDs in patients with CS.

Lead integrity alert algorithm decreases inappropriate shocks in patients who have Sprint Fidelis pace-sense conductor fractures.

Background: The Medtronic Sprint Fidelis high-voltage implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) lead is prone to fracture. The majority of fractures involve the pace-sense (P/S) conductors and may result in multiple inappropriate shocks. The Medtronic lead integrity alert (LIA) algorithm was designed to improve early detection of transient P/S conductor fractures and to decrease the incidence and number of inappropriate shocks.

Deaths and cardiovascular injuries due to device-assisted implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and pacemaker lead extraction.

Aims: An estimated 10,000-15,000 pacemaker and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) leads are extracted annually worldwide using specialized tools that disrupt encapsulating fibrous tissue. Additional information is needed regarding the safety of the devices that have been approved for lead extraction. The aim of this study was to determine whether complications due to device-assisted lead extraction might be more hazardous than published data suggest, and whether procedural safety precautions are effective.

Long-term survival after cardiac arrest in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and aborted cardiac arrest are generally regarded as a high-risk subgroup susceptible to future major cardiac events and an unfavorable prognosis. However, outcome over extended time periods after major arrhythmic events is unresolved in such HCM patients.

Objective: This study sought to more completely define the natural history of HCM.

Circadian patterns in the occurrence of malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias triggering defibrillator interventions in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Sudden death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) has been reported to occur most frequently in the early morning hours, similar to the pattern observed in ischemic heart disease. However, little is known about the circadian pattern of life-threatening arrhythmias in HCM in the contemporary era of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the time of day when appropriate device interventions occur for ventricular tachycardia (VT)/ventricular fibrillation (VF) in HCM patients.

Clinical outcome and phenotypic expression in LAMP2 cardiomyopathy.

Context: Mutations in X-linked lysosome-associated membrane protein gene (LAMP2; Danon disease) produce a cardiomyopathy in young patients that clinically mimics severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) due to sarcomere protein mutations. However, the natural history and phenotypic expression of this newly recognized disease is incompletely resolved and its identification may have important clinical implications.

Objectives: To determine the clinical consequences, outcome, and phenotypic expression of LAMP2 cardiomyopathy associated with diagnostic and management strategies.

Failure of impedance monitoring to prevent adverse clinical events caused by fracture of a recalled high-voltage implantable cardioverter-defibrillator lead.

Background: The Medtronic Sprint Fidelis implantable cardioverter-defibrillator high-voltage lead is prone to fracture. The October 2007 safety advisory recommended lead impedance monitoring to aid in identifying lead fractures.

Objective: The aim of this single-center study was to examine the effectiveness of impedance monitoring for detecting Sprint Fidelis lead failures before they caused adverse clinical events such as inappropriate shocks.

Significance of appropriate defibrillator shock 3 hours and 20 minutes following implantation in a patient with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Introduction: Implantable defibrillators have proved effective in terminating potentially life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), although the timing of appropriate shocks may be exceedingly variable.

Methods And Results: We report an unusual occurrence in a 48-year-old woman with nonobstructive HCM who experienced an appropriate shock for ventricular fibrillation only 3 hours and 20 minutes after implantation. Careful review of the clinical circumstances failed to define a specific mechanism related to the implant procedure that could have triggered the potentially lethal arrhythmia.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and prevention of sudden cardiac death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Context: Recently, the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) has been promoted for prevention of sudden death in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, the effectiveness and appropriate selection of patients for this therapy is incompletely resolved.

Objective: To study the relationship between clinical risk profile and incidence and efficacy of ICD intervention in HCM.

Early failure of a small-diameter high-voltage implantable cardioverter-defibrillator lead.

Background: We have observed a higher than expected rate of Sprint Fidelis model 6949 lead failures in our practice.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the performance of small-diameter Sprint Fidelis high-voltage ICD leads.

Methods: The actuarial survival of Sprint Fidelis model 6949 leads implanted at our center was compared with that of the Sprint Quattro Secure model 6947.

Clinical experience with pacemaker pulse generators and transvenous leads: an 8-year prospective multicenter study.

Background: Pacemakers have improved the lives of patients worldwide. Unfortunately, the medical community has had little independent information regarding the performance of these vital medical devices.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons pacemaker pulse generators and transvenous leads were removed from service.

Host selection in Tomicus piniperda L.: composition of monoterpene hydrocarbons in relation to attack frequency in the shoot feeding phase.

The aim of this study was to investigate the host selection capacity of the pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda, in the shoot-feeding phase and analyze the chiral and non-chiral host volatiles by means of GC-MS and 2D-GC in five Pinus species originating from France (Pinus sylvestris, P. halepensis, P. nigra laricio, P.

Cardioverter-defibrillator implantation in high-risk patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are used with increasing frequency in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients of all ages for primary and secondary sudden death prevention. Concerns may arise regarding the safety of device implantation because of unique clinical and phenotypic expressions of HCM.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of ICD placement in high-risk patients with HCM.

Unexpected loss of bipolar lead function associated with lead connection design in dual chamber pacemakers.

Unexpected loss of bipolar pacing function can occur in Guidant VIGOR dual chamber pacemakers with QC2 (Quick Connect) headers. In a retrospective review of 305 implanted patients, 23 exhibited unexpected loss of bipolar pacing lead function from < 1 to 51 months postimplant. Atrial lead problems were seen in 17 patients and ventricular lead problems in 6 (P < 0.

Unexpected ICD pulse generator failure due to electronic circuit damage caused by electrical overstress.

Because it is a lifesaving device, the unexpected failure of an ICD can be catastrophic. We report ICD electronic circuit failure due to electrical overstress damage (EOS) to the high voltage hybird circuit and other electronic components in a series of ICD pulse generator models. Data were obtained from the Multicenter Registry of Pacemaker and ICD Pacemaker and Lead Failures, and from the manufactures' adverse event reports, that were in the FDA's Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) database.

Feasibility and initial results of an Internet-based pacemaker and ICD pulse generator and lead registry.

The medical community has no independent source of timely information regarding the performance of pacemaker and ICD pulse generators and leads. Accordingly, the authors established an Internet-based registry of pacemaker and ICD pulse generator and lead failures (www.pacerandicregistry.