Navigating Life With Parkinson's Disease: A Focus Group Study on Coping Strategies and Considerations for Self-Management Support.

Aim: To investigate the experiences of people with Parkinson's disease in coping with and adapting to their disease and to identify considerations for a tailored self-management support program.

Design: A descriptive phenomenological focus group study.

Methods: Five semi-structured focus groups were conducted between April 2023 and June 2023 in the Netherlands, with 12 people with Parkinson's disease.

Left atrial function of patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing thoracoscopic hybrid ablation.

Objectives: Thoracoscopic hybrid ablation is an effective and safe rhythm control strategy for patients with complex forms of atrial fibrillation. Its effect on left atrial function has not yet been studied.

Methods: In a retrospective single-centre analysis of patients undergoing thoracoscopic hybrid ablation, the left atrial emptying fraction was calculated using the biplane modified Simpson method in the apical 2- and 4-chamber views on transthoracic echocardiography.

Hybrid atrial fibrillation ablation.

In this state-of-the art review on hybrid atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, we briefly focus on the pathophysiology of AF, the rationale for the hybrid approach, its technical aspects and the efficacy and safety outcomes after hybrid AF ablation, both from meta-analyses and randomized control trial data. Also, we performed a systematic search to provide a provisional overview of real-world hybrid AF ablation efficacy and safety outcomes. Furthermore, we give an insight into the 'Maastricht approach', an approach that allows us to tailor the ablation procedure to the individual patient.

Intermediate monocytes are associated with the first major adverse cardiovascular event in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

Background: Traditional risk stratification modestly predicts adverse cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Our aim was to investigate the association between monocyte subsets numbers and function, and the first major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) in patients with symptomatic stable CAD and angiographically documented coronary atherosclerosis.

Methods: Patients with stable CAD were screened for inclusion.