Pulsed-field ablation of atrial fibrillation with a pentaspline catheter across National Health Service England centres.

Introduction: Pulsed-field ablation (PFA) is a novel modality for pulmonary vein isolation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We describe the initial uptake and experience of PFA using a pentaspline catheter across selected National Health Service England (NHSE) centres.

Methods: Data collected by NHSE Specialised Services Development Programme regarding AF ablation procedures using a single-shot, pentaspline, multielectrode PFA catheter (FARAWAVE, Boston Scientific) between June 2022 and August 2024 were aggregated and analysed to examine procedural metrics, acute efficacy and safety outcomes over 3-month follow-up.

Uncovering the Lowest Thickness Limit for Room-Temperature Ferromagnetism of CrTe.

Metallic ferromagnetic transition metal dichalcogenides have emerged as important building blocks for scalable magnetic and memory applications. Downscaling such systems to the ultrathin limit is critical to integrate them into technology. Here, we achieved layer-by-layer control over the transition metal dichalcogenide CrTe by using pulsed laser deposition, and we uncovered the minimum critical thickness above which room-temperature magnetic order is maintained.

Signatures of a surface spin-orbital chiral metal.

The relation between crystal symmetries, electron correlations and electronic structure steers the formation of a large array of unconventional phases of matter, including magneto-electric loop currents and chiral magnetism. The detection of such hidden orders is an important goal in condensed-matter physics. However, until now, non-standard forms of magnetism with chiral electronic ordering have been difficult to detect experimentally.

An Observational Study on the Utility of Lab Parameters in Evaluating the Severity of Patients in South India with Covid-19.

Laboratory testing has been extremely helpful in determining the severity and determining the course of treatment for COVID-19 patients. Our aim has been to look for variables of patient's clinical and laboratory profile for two weeks and to observe their significance. Observational, Cross-sectional study.

Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for Bioanalysis of Fampridine Using Dried Blood Spot (DBS) Methodology: Application to Pharmacokinetic Study in Albino Rats.

Fampridine (dalfampridine) is used to improve walking in people who have multiple sclerosis (a disease in which the nerves do not function properly and may cause weakness, numbness, loss of muscle coordination and problems with vision, speech and bladder control). Measurement of fampridine plasma concentrations is not practical at sites lacking the facilities to prepare and process blood samples. A dried blood spot (DBS) sampling method, in which a few drops of blood, drawn by lancet from the finger, are applied onto specially manufactured absorbent filter paper, can be used as an alternative to plasma monitoring and would allow for simplified sample storage and transport.

Dual pulsed laser deposition system for the growth of complex materials and heterostructures.

Here, we present an integrated ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) apparatus for the growth of complex materials and heterostructures. The specific growth technique is the Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) by means of a dual-laser source based on an excimer KrF ultraviolet and solid-state Nd:YAG infra-red lasers. By taking advantage of the two laser sources-both lasers can be independently used within the deposition chambers-a large number of different materials-ranging from oxides to metals, to selenides, and others-can be successfully grown in the form of thin films and heterostructures.

Estimation of tuberculosis incidence at subnational level using three methods to monitor progress towards ending TB in India, 2015-2020.

Objectives: We verified subnational (state/union territory (UT)/district) claims of achievements in reducing tuberculosis (TB) incidence in 2020 compared with 2015, in India.

Design: A community-based survey, analysis of programme data and anti-TB drug sales and utilisation data.

Setting: National TB Elimination Program and private TB treatment settings in 73 districts that had filed a claim to the Central TB Division of India for progress towards TB-free status.

Refractory hypertensive emergency associated with complete heart block resolved after permanent pacemaker implantation: A case report.

Severe hypertension sometimes improves with treatment of bradycardia but this phenomenon is under-reported. Here, an elderly gentleman with complete heart block and a hypertensive emergency was refractory to medical therapies and blood pressure only improved following pacemaker implantation. We discuss the possible mechanisms relating to heart rate and artificial pacing.

UBLED AF (Uninterrupted BLackpool EDoxaban vs Warfarin vs Rivaroxaban in Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter ablation) Study.

Aim: Catheter ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF)/atrial flutter carries a risk of thromboembolism and major bleeding. In light of recent prospective trial data on the safety and efficacy of uninterrupted edoxaban in patients undergoing AF/flutter ablation, real-world Data was aimed for validation.

Methods: A total of 228 patients who underwent AF/atrial flutter ablation over 14 months at our centre were retrospectively analyzed.

Contemporary Management of Patent Foramen Ovale: A Multinational Survey on Cardiologists' Perspective.

Objectives: The purpose of our survey is to analyze the clinical approach used by interventional and imaging cardiologists to diagnose, treat, and follow-up patients with PFO-related left circulation thromboembolism in different parts of the world with particular emphasis on adherence to current guidelines.

Background: Firm guidelines do not cover many aspects of PFO-related patient care. Consequently, very disparate approaches exist among clinicians in the real-world.

A 59-Year-Old Woman with Familial Brugada Syndrome and the c.664C>T Variant of the Sodium Voltage-Gated Channel Alpha Subunit 5 (SCN5A) Gene, Accompanied by Congenital Absence of the Right Coronary Artery, Patent Foramen Ovale, and Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND Brugada syndrome is a rare inherited channelopathy that can lead to sudden cardiac death. The discovery of new variants of variable penetrance along with the current guidance for cascade family screening can be expected to lead to an increase in identified asymptomatic carriers of potentially causative mutations of channelopathies. A single coronary artery is a rare congenital anomaly of the coronary anatomy.

Mental Health Outcomes Among British Healthcare Workers-Lessons From the First Wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Objective: To ascertain the level of psychological distress, using validated psychology tools, among British National healthcare workers (HCW) during the first wave of the Covid-19 crisis.

Methods: A multi-centre, anonymized, all-comer staff survey across 3 hospitals in Lancashire, England during the Covid-19 first wave (April to June 2020), consisting of Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Impact of Events Scale (IES-6).

Results: Among 1113 HCW, median (IQR) PHQ-9, GAD-7, PSS-10, and IES-6 score was 7 (3 to 11), 6 (3 to 11), 19 (13 to 24), and 9 (5 to 14), respectively.

Facilitators and barriers of service utilization: Perspectives of stakeholders in a family health center of central Kerala - A qualitative study.

Background: Transformation of Primary Health Centers to Family Health Centers (FHC) in Kerala is a new movement. It is important to study the perspectives of stakeholders about it so that strengthening of the facilitators and tackling the barriers can be done.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to understand the perspectives of patients and health-care workers on the facilitators and barriers of service utilization in a FHC in Central Kerala.

Coronovirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic and Cardiac Electrophysiology: Guidance Protocol From a UK Tertiary Cardiac Center.

Since December 2019, the coronovirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in more than 2,160,000 positive cases and more than 145,000 deaths until April 18, 2020. The pressure to the health services worldwide has been unprecedented. The redeployment of staff and resources to treat more efficiently COVID-19 cases along with the need to reduce disease transmission has affected the field of electrophysiology among many others.

Bradyarrhythmias for the Internist.

In this article, the authors review the different types of sinus node and atrioventricular node diseases that lead to bradyarrhythmias with their associated symptoms, the diagnostic investigations needed to assess the degree of disease, and the therapeutic management, including the indications for permanent pacing.

Renal function and the long-term clinical outcomes of cardiac resynchronization therapy with or without defibrillation.

Background And Aims: Patients with moderate-to-severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) are underrepresented in clinical trials of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)-defibrillation (CRT-D) or CRT-pacing (CRT-P). We sought to determine whether outcomes after CRT-D are better than after CRT-P over a wide spectrum of CKD.

Methods And Results: Clinical events were quantified in relation to preimplant estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) after CRT-D (n = 410 [39.

Long-term clinical outcomes of cardiac resynchronization therapy with or without defibrillation: impact of the aetiology of cardiomyopathy.

Aims: There is a continuing debate as to whether cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillation (CRT-D) is superior to CRT-pacing (CRT-P), particularly in patients with non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (NICM). We sought to quantify the clinical outcomes after primary prevention of CRT-D and CRT-P and identify whether these differed according to the aetiology of cardiomyopathy.

Methods And Results: Analyses were undertaken in the total study population of patients treated with CRT-D (n = 551) or CRT-P (n = 999) and in propensity-matched samples.

Looking for sufficient change: Evaluation of counsellor training for STI syndromic management in India.

In India, public health care of Sexually Transmitted Infections is delivered through Designated STI/RTI Clinics (DSRCs) using syndromic management. This paper describes efforts, over three years, to improve in-service training for counsellors positioned at DSRCs-using a data approach. The programme managers realised, through rigorous monitoring of initial induction training reports that, while knowledge and attitudes of most trainees had improved as evident from t-tests, at least one-quarter scored worse on post-training assessments (n=859).

Aging related ER stress is not responsible for anabolic resistance in mouse skeletal muscle.

Anabolic resistance reflects the inability of skeletal muscle to maintain protein mass by appropriate stimulation of protein synthesis. We hypothesized that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress contributes to anabolic resistance in skeletal muscle with aging. Muscles were isolated from adult (8 mo) and old (26 mo) mice and weighed.