Does providing atrial fibrillation patients, after pulmonary vein isolation, with a 1-lead ECG device relieve the emergency department?-A historically controlled prospective trial.

Unlabelled: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a prevalent and clinically significant cardiac arrhythmia, with a growing incidence. The primary objectives in AF management are symptom relief, stroke risk reduction, and prevention of tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy. Two key strategies for rhythm control include antiarrhythmic drug therapy and pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), with PVI being recommended for selected patients.

Can eHealth programs for cardiac arrhythmias be scaled-up by using the KardiaMobile algorithm?

Background: Remote monitoring devices for atrial fibrillation are known to positively contribute to the diagnostic process and therapy compliance. However, automatic algorithms within devices show varying sensitivity and specificity, so manual double-checking of electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings remains necessary.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of the KardiaMobile algorithm within the Dutch telemonitoring program (HartWacht).

Coronary calcification measures predict mortality in symptomatic women and men.

Objective: To assess the prognostic value of absolute and sex-specific, age-specific and race/ethnicity-specific (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, MESA) percentiles of coronary artery calcification in symptomatic women and men.

Methods: The study population consisted of 4985 symptomatic patients (2793 women, 56%) visiting a diagnostic outpatient cardiology clinic between 2009 and 2018 who were referred for cardiac CT to determine Coronary Artery Calcium Score (CACS). Regular care data were used and these data were linked to the databases of Statistics Netherlands for all-cause mortality data.

[Coronary calcium CT-scanning advisable in patients with a high cardiovascular risk: refining cardiovascular risk in primary prevention].

Currently, risk prediction models like SCORE are used for decision making in the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The external validity of these models is questionable since they give rise to overtreatment with statins or antihypertensive drugs. Detailed individual risk assessment may reduce this drawback and will increase cost effectiveness.

Risk of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a clinical cardiology setting.

Cardiac exercise stress testing (CEST) is an important diagnostic tool in daily cardiology practice. However, during intense physical activity microdroplet aerosols, potentially containing SARS-CoV-2 particles, can persist in a room for a long time. This poses a potential infection risk for the medical staff involved in CEST, as well as for the patients entering the same room afterwards.

Functional stress imaging to predict abnormal coronary fractional flow reserve: the PACIFIC 2 study.

Aims: The diagnostic performance of non-invasive imaging in patients with prior coronary artery disease (CAD) has not been tested in prospective head-to-head comparative studies. The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic performance of qualitative single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), quantitative positron emission tomography (PET), and qualitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with a prior myocardial infarction (MI) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods And Results: In this prospective clinical study, all patients with prior MI and/or PCI and new symptoms of ischaemic CAD underwent 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT, [15O]H2O PET, and MRI, followed by invasive coronary angiography with fractional flow reserve (FFR) in all coronary arteries.

Development of a Pipeline for Adverse Drug Reaction Identification in Clinical Notes: Word Embedding Models and String Matching.

Background: Knowledge about adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the population is limited because of underreporting, which hampers surveillance and assessment of drug safety. Therefore, gathering accurate information that can be retrieved from clinical notes about the incidence of ADRs is of great relevance. However, manual labeling of these notes is time-consuming, and automatization can improve the use of free-text clinical notes for the identification of ADRs.

Outcomes in patients with a first episode of chest pain undergoing early coronary CT imaging.

Objectives: To investigate the impact of a CT-first strategy on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients presenting with chest pain in outpatient cardiology clinics.

Methods: Patients with a first presentation of suspected angina pectoris were identified and their data linked to the registrations of Statistics Netherlands for information on mortality. The linked database consisted of 33 068 patients.

Rate and Rhythm Control Treatment in the Elderly and Very Elderly Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: An Observational Cohort Study of 1497 Patients.

Stroke prevention and rate or rhythm control are crucial in the management of atrial fibrillation (AF). There is recent evidence for benefit of early rhythm control, yet rate control is the first choice in elderly patients. However, the efficacy and safety of rate and rhythm control in the elderly population remains largely unexplored.

Heart failure medication dosage and survival in women and men seen at outpatient clinics.

Objective: Women with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) may reach optimal treatment effect at half of the guideline-recommended medication dose. This study investigates prescription practice and its relation with survival of patients with HF in daily care.

Methods: Electronic health record data from 13 Dutch outpatient cardiology clinics were extracted for HF receiving at least one guideline-recommended HF medication.

Routine clinical care data from thirteen cardiac outpatient clinics: design of the Cardiology Centers of the Netherlands (CCN) database.

Background: Despite the increasing availability of clinical data due to the digitalisation of healthcare systems, data often remain inaccessible due to the diversity of data collection systems. In the Netherlands, Cardiology Centers of the Netherlands (CCN) introduced "one-stop shop" diagnostic clinics for patients suspected of cardiac disease by their general practitioner. All CCN clinics use the same data collection system and standardised protocol, creating a large regular care database.

Patient-reported outcomes in symptom-driven remote arrhythmia monitoring: evaluation of the Dutch HartWacht-telemonitoring programme.

Aims: There is limited quantitative evidence on the effect of symptom-driven telemonitoring for cardiac arrhythmias on patient-reported outcomes. We evaluated the effect of a symptom-driven remote arrhythmia monitoring programme on the patient-reported health-related quality of life (HRQoL), sense of safety, physical limitations, and self-management.

Methods And Results: This was an observational retrospective longitudinal study of the symptom-driven HartWacht-telemonitoring programme using a remote single-lead electrocardiogram monitoring system.

Coronary artery disease prediction in women and men using chest pain characteristics and risk factors: an observational study in outpatient clinics.

Objectives: To assess the diagnostic value of non-acute chest pain characteristics for coronary artery disease in women and men referred to outpatient cardiology clinics.

Design And Setting: This is an observational study performed at outpatient cardiology centres of the Netherlands.

Participants: The study population consisted of 1028 patients with non-acute chest pain (505 women).

Advantages of mobile health in the management of adult patients with congenital heart disease.

Background: Adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) often suffer from deterioration related to cardiac arrhythmias, hypertension (HT) or heart failure (HF), frequently occurring between planned visits. Mobile health (mHealth) could improve management through remote monitoring by enabling swift therapeutic response and detecting new diagnoses.

Methods: We performed a prospective study employing mHealth in ACHD patients, weekly monitoring heart rhythm, weight and blood pressure.

eHealth in patients with congenital heart disease: a review.

Mobile health (mHealth), an advanced form of eHealth is expected to drastically change the field of traditional healthcare in the near future as wearables and mobile applications are rapidly increasing in number. The majority of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) now reach adulthood and this relative young patient population seems particularly suited for mHealth, as they require lifelong follow-up, experience high morbidity burden, and were raised in this digital era. In patients with acquired heart disease the potential of eHealth has been demonstrated, yet data are still inconclusive.

Erectile dysfunction in the cardiology practice-a patients' perspective.

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events sharing mutual risk factors with coronary artery disease. Several guidelines for the management of ED in cardiovascular disease have been proposed, recommending cardiologists to routinely inquire about erectile function. However, males' specific needs and wishes regarding sexual health care in cardiology are unknown.

Hybrid imaging using quantitative H215O PET and CT-based coronary angiography for the detection of coronary artery disease.

Unlabelled: Hybrid imaging using PET in conjunction with CT-based coronary angiography (PET/CTCA) enables near-simultaneous quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and anatomical evaluation of coronary arteries. CTCA is an excellent imaging modality to rule out obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), but functional assessment is warranted in the presence of a CTCA-observed stenosis because the specificity of CTCA is relatively low. Quantitative H(2)(15)O PET/CTCA may yield complementary information and enhance diagnostic accuracy.

Carotid artery intima-media thickness, but not coronary artery calcium, predicts coronary vascular resistance in patients evaluated for coronary artery disease.

Aims: There is growing evidence that coronary artery disease (CAD) affects not only the conduit epicardial coronary arteries, but also the microvascular coronary bed. Moreover, coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMVD) often precedes the stage of clinically overt epicardial CAD. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) and carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT) measured with computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound, respectively, are among the available techniques to non-invasively assess atherosclerotic burden.