Innovation in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias.

The 11th International Dead Sea Symposium on Cardiac Arrhythmias and Device Therapy - the 20th Anniversary of the meeting - was held in Jerusalem, Israel on the 26-29 February 2012. The global meeting was conducted with the goal of providing a venue for a multidisciplinary approach to exchange knowledge in all areas related to arrhythmia care. In addition to presentations of original research and keynote lectures, special educational sessions were offered that included hands-on anatomy training and interesting case presentations.

Bolus injection of acetylcholine terminates atrial fibrillation in rats.

It is well established that a tonic increase in the availability of the atrial muscarinic K(+) channels, either by enhanced vagal tone or by steady infusion of a low-dose of cholinergic or adenosine receptor agonists, promotes the genesis of atrial fibrillation. Here, we aimed to test the hypothesis that bolus administration of a muscarinic receptor agonist would destabilize and terminate atrial arrhythmia by uniformly and transiently activating K(+) channels throughout the atria, and that if the agonist was rapidly hydrolysable, it would dissipate before the more tonic, pro-arrhythmic effects could take hold. The episodes of untreated atrial fibrillation, induced in anesthetized rats by programmed electrical stimulation via trans-esophageal bipolar catheter, lasted on average 8.