The Usefulness of Questionnaires in Assessing the Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Patients in the Managed Care after Acute Myocardial Infarction Program-The Results of a Cross-Sectional Study.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) worsens prognosis after myocardial infarction (MI) but often remains undiagnosed. The study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of questionnaires in assessing the risk of OSA in patients participating in managed care after an acute myocardial infarction program. Study group: 438 patients (349 (79.

Transient out-of-range impedance in "hybrid" implantable cardioverter-defibrilator system: A case series.

A retrospective analysis of 60 patients with hybrid implantable cardioverter-defibrilator (ICD) systems: Boston Scientific device paired with non-Boston leads. In 10 (17%) patients transient, out-of-range peaks of ventricular pace impedance trend were observed. Probable cause is header-lead interaction incompatibility.

Left ventricular global longitudinal strain in predicting CRT response: one more J-shaped curve in medicine.

The aim of the study was: (1) to verify the hypothesis that left ventricular global longitudinal strain (LVGLS) may be of additive prognostic value in prediction CRT response and (2) to obtain such a LVGLS value that in the best optimal way enables to characterize potential CRT responders. Forty-nine HF patients (age 66.5 ± 10 years, LVEF 24.

Regional Strain Pattern Index-A Novel Technique to Predict CRT Response.

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) improves outcome in patients with heart failure (HF) however approximately 30% of patients still remain non-responsive. We propose a novel index-Regional Strain Pattern Index (RSPI)-to prospectively evaluate response to CRT.

Methods: Echocardiography was performed in 49 patients with HF (66.

Patients with atrial fibrillation and low risk of stroke: do they really need anticoagulation?

Atrial fibrillation (AF) significantly increases the risk of thromboembolic events, in particular the risk of stroke. Anticoagulation therapy has been shown to reduce this risk; therefore, the treatment should be lifelong. However, the risk in patients with nonvalvular AF is not equally distributed, and there is a population of patients at low risk.