Publications by authors named "I Blankoff"
Background: The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) remains the cornerstone in the prevention of sudden cardiac death. Cost-effectiveness depends on survival after implantation. In Belgium there are unexplained major differences in 3-year mortality after ICD implantation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study investigates the outcomes of implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) procedures in patients over 80 years old in Belgium, analyzing data from 704 patients implanted between 2010 and 2019.
- Results indicated that 35% of these patients died during a mean follow-up of 3.1 years, with 11% dying within the first year.
- Key factors influencing mortality included age, a history of cancer, type of prevention (primary vs. secondary), and the health of the heart (measured by left ventricular ejection fraction).
Background: The impact of sex on ICD implantation practice and survival remain a topic of controversy. To assess sex-specific differences in ICD implantation practice we compared clinical characteristics and survival in women and men.
Methods: From a nationwide registry, all new ICD implantations performed between 01/02/2010 and 31/01/2019 in Belgian patients were analyzed retrospectively.
Cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) gain-of-function mutations cause catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, a condition characterized by prominent ventricular ectopy in response to catecholamine stress, which can be reproduced on exercise stress testing (EST). However, reports of sudden cardiac death (SCD) have emerged in EST-negative individuals who have loss-of-function (LOF) RyR2 mutations. The clinical relevance of RyR2 LOF mutations including their pathogenic mechanism, diagnosis, and treatment are all unknowns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Studies on the use of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants in unselected patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) show that clinical characteristics and dosing practices differ per region, but lack data on edoxaban.
Methods: With data from Edoxaban Treatment in routiNe clinical prActice for patients with AF in Europe (ETNA-AF-Europe), a large prospective observational study, we compared clinical characteristics (including the dose reduction criteria for edoxaban: creatinine clearance 15-50 ml/min, weight ≤60 kg, and/or use of strong p‑glycoprotein inhibitors) of patients from Belgium and the Netherlands (BeNe) with those from other European countries (OEC).
Results: Of all 13,639 patients in ETNA-AF-Europe, 2579 were from BeNe.