Dentists' knowledge, attitudes, and awareness regarding interprofessional collaboration with physical therapists.

Purpose: Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) between dentists and physical therapists (PT) could improve access to patient treatment and oral care outcomes. This study aimed to assess dentists' knowledge, attitudes, and awareness of IPC with PT.

Methods: The study design included a 16-question online survey sent to dentists (n = 102) at a university in fall 2022 via SurveyMonkey.

Factors affecting dental students' postgraduate plans: A multi-site study.

Purpose: This multi-site study examined dental students' postgraduate plans and factors affecting them, perceptions of pathways with the best future, and whether those postgraduate plans changed during dental school.

Methods: An online survey was made available to all four dental classes (2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021) and advanced standing/international dental students at eight US dental schools. The survey questionnaire consisted of two parts: (1) 14 questions pertaining to demographic information and (2) 11 questions pertaining to career path choices and possible influencing factors.

Evaluation of a real-time magnetic resonance imaging-guided electrophysiology system for structural and electrophysiological ventricular tachycardia substrate assessment.

Aims: Potential advantages of real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided electrophysiology (MR-EP) include contemporaneous three-dimensional substrate assessment at the time of intervention, improved procedural guidance, and ablation lesion assessment. We evaluated a novel real-time MR-EP system to perform endocardial voltage mapping and assessment of delayed conduction in a porcine ischaemia-reperfusion model.

Methods And Results: Sites of low voltage and slow conduction identified using the system were registered and compared to regions of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on MRI.

Cardiac Electrophysiology Under MRI Guidance: an Emerging Technology.

MR-guidance of electrophysiological (EP) procedures offers the potential for enhanced arrhythmia substrate assessment, improved procedural guidance and real-time assessment of ablation lesion formation. Accurate device tracking techniques, using both active and passive methods, have been developed to offer an interface similar to electroanatomic mapping platforms, and MR-compatible EP equipment continues to be developed. Progress to clinical implementation of these technically complex fields has been relatively slow over the last 10 years, but recent developments have led to successful clinical experience.

Local activation time sampling density for atrial tachycardia contact mapping: how much is enough?

Aims: Local activation time (LAT) mapping forms the cornerstone of atrial tachycardia diagnosis. Although anatomic and positional accuracy of electroanatomic mapping (EAM) systems have been validated, the effect of electrode sampling density on LAT map reconstruction is not known. Here, we study the effect of chamber geometry and activation complexity on optimal LAT sampling density using a combined in silico and in vivo approach.

Antibiotic prophylaxis for infective endocarditis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The use of antibiotic prophylaxis (AP) for prevention of infective endocarditis (IE) is controversial. In recent years, guidelines to cardiologists and dentists have advised restriction of AP to high-risk groups (in Europe and the USA) or against its use at all (in the UK). The objective of this systematic review was to appraise the evidence for use of AP for prevention of bacteraemia or IE in patients undergoing dental procedures.

Development, Preclinical Validation, and Clinical Translation of a Cardiac Magnetic Resonance - Electrophysiology System With Active Catheter Tracking for Ablation of Cardiac Arrhythmia.

Objectives: This study sought to develop an actively tracked cardiac magnetic resonance-guided electrophysiology (CMR-EP) system and perform first-in-human clinical ablation procedures.

Background: CMR-EP offers high-resolution anatomy, arrhythmia substrate, and ablation lesion visualization in the absence of ionizing radiation. Implementation of active tracking, where catheter position is continuously transmitted in a manner analogous to electroanatomic mapping (EAM), is crucial for CMR-EP to take the step from theoretical technology to practical clinical tool.

Repeat left atrial catheter ablation: cardiac magnetic resonance prediction of endocardial voltage and gaps in ablation lesion sets.

Background: Studies have reported an inverse relationship between late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) signal intensity and left atrial (LA) endocardial voltage after LA ablation. However, there is controversy regarding the reproducibility of atrial LGE CMR and its ability to identify gaps in ablation lesions. Using systematic and objective techniques, this study examines the correlation between atrial CMR and endocardial voltage.

Vascular and extravascular findings on magnetic resonance angiography of the thoracic aorta and the origin of the great vessels.

Purpose: To investigate the presence of relevant vascular and incidental extravascular findings in patients undergoing magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the thoracic aorta and origin of the great vessels.

Materials And Methods: In all, 165 consecutive patients (mean age 61 ± 12 years) underwent 1.5 T MRA of the thorax.

Cardiac magnetic resonance and electroanatomical mapping of acute and chronic atrial ablation injury: a histological validation study.

Aims: To provide a comprehensive histopathological validation of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and endocardial voltage mapping of acute and chronic atrial ablation injury.

Methods And Results: 16 pigs underwent pre-ablation T2-weighted (T2W) and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) CMR and high-density voltage mapping of the right atrium (RA) and both were repeated after intercaval linear radiofrequency ablation. Eight pigs were sacrificed following the procedure for pathological examination.

Quantitative assessment of the effects of therapeutic hypothermia on early repolarization in idiopathic ventricular fibrillation survivors: a 7-year cohort study.

Background: The early repolarization (ER) pattern on ECG is associated with an increased risk of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (ID-VF). Hypothermia is known to result in similar electrocardiographic changes. In this retrospective cohort study, we examine the impact of therapeutic hypothermia on ER in survivors of cardiac arrest attributed to ID-VF and draw comparisons with a control group who experienced coronary artery disease-related VF (CAD-VF).

Pulmonary vein anatomy predicts freedom from atrial fibrillation using remote magnetic navigation for circumferential pulmonary vein ablation.

Aims: Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is frequently used to guide circumferential pulmonary vein ablation (PVA) for treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) as it offers accurate visualization of the left atrial (LA) and pulmonary vein (PV) anatomy. This study aimed to identify if PV anatomy is associated with outcomes following PVA using remote magnetic navigation (RMN).

Methods And Results: We analysed data from 138 consecutive patients and 146 ablation procedures referred for PVA due to drug-refractory symptomatic AF (age 63 ± 11 years; 57% men; 69% paroxysmal AF).

Left ventricular filling and diastolic myocardial deformation in chronic primary mitral regurgitation.

Aims: Chronic primary mitral regurgitation (MR) results in enhanced filling of the left ventricle (LV) during early diastole. Filling is impaired with the onset of LV systolic dysfunction, due to increased myocardial stiffness and reduced restoring forces. We investigated echocardiographic parameters of early diastolic function in relation to LV systolic function.