Prevalence of interatrial block in patients with Friedreich's ataxia.

Unlabelled: Interatrial block is a predictor of atrial arrhythmias. Aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of interatrial block (IAB) in Friedreich's Ataxia (FA) compared to controls and correlate it with echocardiographic and genetic features.

Methods: IAB, defined as an electrocardiographic (ECG) derived P-wave duration >120 ms, echocardiographic variables and genetic markers were evaluated in 23 FA patients with no manifestation of cardiac involvement and were compared to 23 sex- and age-matched controls.

Late presentation of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy: a case report.

Introduction: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy is an inherited myocardial disease affecting predominantly young people and manifests as sustained ventricular tachycardia with left bundle branch block morphology, sudden death or isolated right or biventricular heart failure. However, its first manifestation as sustained ventricular tachycardia in older patients without preceding symptoms of heart failure is infrequent. To our knowledge, our patient is among the oldest reported in the literature presenting with ventricular tachycardia because of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy without preceding symptoms of heart failure.

Prevalence of interatrial block in young healthy men<35 years of age.

Interatrial block (IAB; P-wave duration>or=110 ms) is highly prevalent and is strongly associated with atrial tachyarrhythmias and left atrial dysfunction. Very few studies have examined IAB in young healthy subjects. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the prevalence of IAB and its possible relation with clinical variables in 1,353 young healthy men.

Upgrade to biventricular pacing in patients with pacing-induced heart failure: can resynchronization do the trick?

Dyssynchrony imposed on ventricular function by right ventricular (RV) apical pacing may lead in some cases to worsening or appearance of heart failure (HF) symptoms. This is a result of an altered pattern of activation, leading to several histological and functional adjustments of the left ventricle, including inhomogeneous thickening of the ventricular myocardium and myofibrillar disarray, fibrosis, disturbances in ion-handling protein expression, myocardial perfusion defects, alterations in sympathetic tone and mitral regurgitation. Studies of mid- and long-term effects of RV apical pacing on left ventricular (LV) function have demonstrated a progressive decline in ejection fraction and other indices of LV functional competence.

The paradoxical association of common polymorphisms of the renin-angiotensin system genes with risk of myocardial infarction.

Background: The insertion/deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and the A1166C polymorphism of the angiotensin-II AT1 receptor (AT1R) have been extensively investigated as possible risk factors for myocardial infarction (MI).

Design And Methods: Genetic association, case-control study, specifically designed to investigate the association of the above-mentioned polymorphisms with risk of MI in a homogeneous, low coronary risk, Caucasian population. The study population consisted of 1603 consecutive patients with acute MI who were recruited from nine clinics, located in three cities, and 699 unrelated adults who were randomly selected from the city catalogues.