Reduction of left ventricular global longitudinal strain in patients with permanent pacemakers as a predictor of heart failure and mortality outcomes.

Introduction: Frequent right ventricular (RV) pacing is associated with cardiomyopathy. The impact of RV pacing on left ventricular (LV) global longitudinal strain (GLS) and clinical outcomes is unclear.

Methods: We analyzed GLS via two-dimensional speckle tracking and LV ejection fraction (EF) on pre- and post-implantation transthoracic echocardiograms of patients undergoing dual chamber pacemaker implantation.

Robotics for catheter ablation of cardiac arrhythmias: Current technologies and practical approaches.

Robotic technology has emerged as an important tool to facilitate catheter ablation of arrhythmias. Robotic cardiac electrophysiology technology includes remote magnetic navigation and manual robotic navigation. Robotics can confer advantages with respect to ease of catheter manipulation in anatomically challenging spaces, minimization of fluoroscopic exposure to both patients and operators, and reduction in operator fatigue.

Pulmonary Vein Ganglia Are Remodeled in the Diabetic Heart.

Background Cardiac autonomic neuropathy is thought to cause adverse cardiovascular effects in diabetes mellitus. Pulmonary vein ganglia ( PVG ), which have been implicated in normal and abnormal heart rhythm regulation, have not been fully investigated in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D). We examined the functional and anatomical effects of T1D on PVG and studied the details of T1D-induced remodeling on the PVG structure and function.

Comparison of robotic magnetic navigation-guided and manual catheter ablation of ventricular arrhythmias arising from the papillary muscles.

Aims: Due to the complex anatomy of the left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) papillary muscles (PMs), PM ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) can be challenging to target with ablation. We sought to compare the outcomes of robotic magnetic navigation-guided (RMN) ablation and manual ablation of VAs arising from the LV and RV PMs.

Methods And Results: We evaluated 35 consecutive patients (mean age 65 ± 12 years, 69% male) who underwent catheter ablation of 38 VAs originating from the LV and RV PMs as confirmed by intracardiac echocardiography.

Allometric scaling of electrical excitation and propagation in the mammalian heart.

Variations in body mass impose constraints on the structure and function of mammalian species, including those of the cardiovascular system. Numerous biological processes, including cardiovascular parameters, have been shown to scale with body mass (BM) according to the law of allometric scaling: Y=Y =a∙BM (Y, biological process; a, normalization constant; b, scaling exponent, which in many instances is a multiple of ¼). These parameters include heart and breathing rates, intervals and subintervals of the electrocardiogram (ECG), action potential duration (APD), metabolic rate, and temporal properties of ventricular fibrillation.