Safety and efficacy of a light antithrombotic regimen after left atrial appendage occlusion: Insights from the LOGIC (left atrial appendage occlusion in patients with gastrointestinal or IntraCranial bleeding) international multicenter registry.

Background: Antithrombotic therapy (AT) after left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) has the purpose of preventing device related thrombosis (DRT), avoiding embolic events; nevertheless, the correct antithrombotic regimen after LAAO is still under debate.

Aims: Aim of this substudy of the observational LOGIC registry was to describe the efficacy and safety of a light antithrombotic regimen, comprising single antiplatelet therapy or none, compared to a standard antithrombotic regimen, after a successful LAAO.

Methods: Patients with NVAF that underwent LAAO were previously included in the LOGIC registry.

In-House Validation of Four Duplex Droplet Digital PCR Assays to Quantify GM Soybean Events.

Due to the increasing number of authorized events in the European Union, it is crucial for the official laboratories to enforce market control to detect and quantify genetically modified organisms. In this study, an in-house validation of quantitative duplex ddPCR methods was performed involving MON87701, MON87769, MON89788 and CV-127-9 assays with respect to the lectin reference gene. Since the ddPCR methods provide accurate quantification, show less sensitivity to PCR inhibitors and are more suitable for multiplexing compared to the real-time PCR, the optimization of the existing assays was performed with the exception of MON87701, according to the JRC Guidance documents and technical reports.

Enhancing Initial State Overlap through Orbital Optimization for Faster Molecular Electronic Ground-State Energy Estimation.

The phase estimation algorithm is crucial for computing the ground-state energy of a molecular electronic Hamiltonian on a quantum computer. Its efficiency depends on the overlap between the Hamiltonian's ground state and an initial state, which tends to decay exponentially with system size. We showcase a practical orbital optimization scheme to alleviate this issue.

Pentaspline catheter or cryoballoon for pulmonary vein plus posterior wall isolation in persistent atrial fibrillation: 1-Year outcomes.

Background: Left atrial posterior wall isolation (LAPWI) plus pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) can be performed with radiofrequency ablation, cryoballoon ablation (CB-A), or, recently, pulsed field ablation (PFA).

Objective: The aims of this study were to evaluate efficacy and safety of the pentaspline PFA catheter for PVI + LAPWI in patients with persistent AF undergoing an index ablation procedure and to compare 1-year outcomes of PVI + LAPWI with PFA vs CB-A.

Methods: All consecutive patients undergoing an index ablation for persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) at Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Belgium, between 2021 and 2023 were retrospectively screened.