Intraoperative Defibrillation Testing Should Not Be Generally Abandoned for All ICD Procedures-A Multicenter Study on 4,572 Consecutive Patients.

 The ongoing technical advances in development of new implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) systems led some investigators to question the routine use of intraoperative defibrillation testing (DT). Therefore, we evaluated retrospectively in a multicenter study effectiveness, safety, and usefulness of intraoperative DT on unbiased large patient population.  Data from 4,572 consecutive patients undergoing any ICD intervention were retrospectively analyzed.

Fluid status telemedicine alerts for heart failure: a randomized controlled trial.

Aims: Hospital admissions are frequently preceded by increased pulmonary congestion in heart failure (HF) patients. This study evaluated whether early automated fluid status alert notification via telemedicine improves outcome in HF patients.

Methods And Results: Patients recently implanted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) with or without cardiac resynchronization therapy were eligible if one of three conditions was met: prior HF hospitalization, recent diuretic treatment, or recent brain natriuretic peptide increase.

Stimulated Acoustic Emission Nonbackscatter Contrast Effect of Microbubbles Seen with Harmonic Power Doppler Imaging.

Transient imaging has been introduced to enhance the signal intensities when using echo contrast agents. However, this phenomenon is not clearly understood. To evaluate the mechanisms of this phenomenon, isolated pig hearts were investigated with different echo imaging techniques in the beating, working heart as well as in an asystolic state without any motion of the heart.