Left atrial remodeling and response to valsartan in the prevention of recurrent atrial fibrillation: the GISSI-AF echocardiographic substudy.

Background: Left atrial (LA) dilation precedes or appears early after the onset of atrial fibrillation (AF) and factors in perpetuating the arrhythmia. Angiotensin receptor blockers were proposed for reversing LA remodeling. We evaluated the effect of valsartan on LA remodeling in patients with a recent episode of AF and the effect of LA size on AF recurrence (AFr).

The negative U wave: a pathogenetic enigma but a useful, often overlooked bedside diagnostic and prognostic clue in ischemic heart disease.

The pathogenesis of U-wave inversion and its clinical value are still not clear, although the U wave was described by Einthoven together with the other electrocardiographic (ECG) waves. Not considered a useful diagnostic clue, it is not usually mentioned in ECG reports. In recent years, stimulated by the long QT syndromes and by the discovery of U-wave changes in some pathologic, mostly cardiac states, this neglected wave has attracted new interest.