Present criteria for prophylactic ICD implantation: Insights from the EU-CERT-ICD (Comparative Effectiveness Research to Assess the Use of Primary ProphylacTic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators in EUrope) project.

Background: The clinical effectiveness of primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy is under debate. It is urgently needed to better identify patients who benefit from prophylactic ICD therapy. The EUropean Comparative Effectiveness Research to Assess the Use of Primary ProphylacTic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (EU-CERT-ICD) completed in 2019 will assess this issue.

Rationale and design of the EU-CERT-ICD prospective study: comparative effectiveness of prophylactic ICD implantation.

Aims: The clinical effectiveness of primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy is under debate. The EUropean Comparative Effectiveness Research to Assess the Use of Primary ProphylacTic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (EU-CERT-ICD) aims to assess its current clinical value.

Methods And Results: The EU-CERT-ICD is a prospective investigator-initiated non-randomized, controlled, multicentre observational cohort study performed in 44 centres across 15 European Union countries.

Who needs a permanent pacemaker after transcatheter aortic valve implantation?

Introduction: We aimed to identify predictive factors for pacemaker requirement and determine the rate of pacemaker dependency in a single centre patient group.

Methods And Reults: Out of 116 patients, who underwent transcatheter aortic valve implantation at our institution. Absence of atrial fibrillation at time of procedure, pulmonary hypertension, obesity and severity of aortic valve stenosis were predictive for the need of permanent pacemaker implantation after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

The OPTI-MIND study: a prospective, observational study of pacemaker patients according to pacing modality and primary indications.

Aims: The OPTI-MIND study aims to collect 2-year clinical outcomes of pacemaker patients in real-world clinical practice, overall and according to patient characteristics and pacemaker settings.

Methods And Results: The present analysis of the OPTI-MIND study describes the programmed device settings after discharge from the pacemaker implant. The objective was to determine whether these settings fit recent guidelines for device-programmed physiological pacing based on the preservation of atrioventricular synchrony, avoiding unnecessary pacing, ensuring rate increase during exercise or preventing neurally mediated symptoms.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and microvascular angina pectoris in 500 consecutive patients referred to coronarography.

Objective: This work was aimed to evaluate the prevalence of insulin resistance (IR) and metabolic syndrome in a large cohort of 40-60 years old patients with cardiovascular symptoms.

Methods: A total of 500 consecutive males and females referred to coronarography and coronary catheterization, because of spontaneous or after load precordial pain plus denivelisation of ST segment by electrocardiography, were included. Besides standard clinical examinations, ergometry, echocardiography, fundamental laboratory tests, and several other laboratory examinations were also performed, including oral glucose toleration test (OGTT), total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, apoprotein A1 and B, apolipoprotein (a), uric acid, fibrinogen, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), cytokines (tumor necrosis factor α, TNFα, interleukin-1, IL-1, interleukin-6, IL-6), endothelin-1, as well as hormones (insulin, C peptide, leptin, growth hormone, cortisol).