Persistent phrenic nerve palsy after atrial fibrillation ablation: Follow-up data from The Netherlands Heart Registration.

Background: Persistent phrenic nerve palsy (PNP) is an established complication of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, especially during cryoballoon and thoracoscopic ablation. Data on persistent PNP reversibility is limited because most patients recover <24 h. This study aims to investigate persistent PNP recovery, freedom of PNP-related symptoms after AF ablation and identify baseline variables associated with the occurrence and early PNP recovery in a large nationwide registry study.

Complications in pulmonary vein isolation in the Netherlands Heart Registration differ with sex and ablation technique.

Aims: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has become a cornerstone of the invasive treatment of atrial fibrillation. Severe complications are reported in 1-3% of patients. This study aims to compare complications and follow-up outcome of PVI in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Pulmonary valve replacement in tetralogy of Fallot improves the repolarization.

Objective: To assess the effect of pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) on the repolarization of patients with tetralogy of Fallot.

Background: Pulmonary valve regurgitation may cause right ventricular failure in adult patients with Fallot's tetralogy. In these patients, prolonged depolarization and disturbed repolarization are associated with ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

Dispersion of repolarization in cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Background: Proarrhythmic effects of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) as a result of increased transmural dispersion of repolarization (TDR) induced by left ventricular (LV) epicardial pacing in a subset of vulnerable patients have been reported. The possibility of identifying these patients by ECG repolarization indices has been suggested.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to test whether repolarization indices on the ECG can be used to measure dispersion of repolarization during pacing.

Validation of ECG indices of ventricular repolarization heterogeneity: a computer simulation study.

Introduction: Repolarization heterogeneity (RH) is functionally linked to dispersion in refractoriness and to arrhythmogenicity. In the current study, we validate several proposed electrocardiogram (ECG) indices for RH: T-wave amplitude, -area, -complexity, and -symmetry ratio, QT dispersion, and the Tapex-end interval (the latter being an index of transmural dispersion of the repolarization (TDR)).

Methods And Results: We used ECGSIM, a mathematical simulation model of ECG genesis in a human thorax, and varied global RH by increasing the standard deviation (SD) of the repolarization instants from 20 (default) to 70 msec in steps of 10 msec.

Reduction of QRS duration after pulmonary valve replacement in adult Fallot patients is related to reduction of right ventricular volume.

Aims: Late after total correction, Fallot patients with a long QRS duration are prone to serious arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Pulmonary regurgitation is a common cause of right ventricular (RV) failure and QRS lengthening. We studied the effects of pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) on QRS duration and RV volume.

Hypertensive stress increases dispersion of repolarization.

Several electrocardiographic indices for repolarization heterogeneity have been proposed previously. The behavior of these indices under two different stressors at the same heart rate (i.e.