Safety and effectiveness of pulsed field ablation for pulmonary vein isolation in atrial fibrillation patients: One-year single center experience.

Introduction And Objectives: Pulmonary vein (PV) isolation is one of the cornerstones of rhythm-control therapy for symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Pulsed field ablation (PFA) is a novel ablation modality that involves the application of electrical pulses causing cellular death, and it has preferential tissue specificity. In this study, we aimed to share a one-year single center experience of AF ablation with PFA.

Left Atrial Wall Thickness Measured by a Machine Learning Method Predicts AF Recurrence After Pulmonary Vein Isolation.

Background: Left atrial (LA) remodeling plays a significant role in the progression of atrial fibrillation (AF). Although LA wall thickness (LAWT) has emerged as an indicator of structural remodeling, its impact on AF outcomes remains unclear. We aimed to determine the association between LAWT and AF recurrence after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), as well as to evaluate the relationship between LAWT and LA fibrosis.

Outcomes of ventricular tachycardia ablation in patients with ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy: A propensity-score matched analysis.

Introduction And Objectives: Catheter ablation (CA) is effective in the treatment of ventricular tachycardia (VT). Although some observational data suggest patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) have less favorable outcomes when compared to those with an ischemic etiology (ICM), direct comparisons are rarely reported. We aimed to compare the outcomes of VT ablation in a propensity-score matched population of ICM or NICM patients.

Endoscope Capsules: The Present Situation and Future Outlooks.

This paper presents new perspectives on photonic technologies for capsule endoscopy. It first presents a review of conventional endoscopy (upper endoscopy and colonoscopy), followed by capsule endoscopy (CE), as well as their techniques, advantages, and drawbacks. The technologies for CEs presented in this paper include integration with the existing endoscopic systems that are commercially available.

Electrospray Deposition of PEDOT:PSS on Carbon Yarn Electrodes for Solid-State Flexible Supercapacitors.

The increasing demand for flexible electronic devices has risen due to the high interest in electronic textiles (e-textiles). Consequently, the urge to power e-textiles has sparked enormous interest in flexible energy storage devices. One-dimensional (1D) configuration supercapacitors are the most promising technology for textile applications, but often their production involves complex synthesis techniques and expensive materials.

The Relationship between Epicardial Fat and Atrial Fibrillation Cannot Be Fully Explained by Left Atrial Fibrosis.

Background: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been associated with atrial fibrillation (AF), but its pathophysiological mechanisms remain unclear.

Objectives: To measure the correlation between EAT and left atrium (LA) fibrosis, and to assess their ability to predict relapse after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).

Methods: Patients with AF enrolled for a first PVI procedure underwent both cardiac computerized tomography (CT) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging within less than 48 hours.

Anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in sheep from Paraná state, South Brazil: prevalence and associated factors.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence and factors associated with the presence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in sheep from Paraná state. The detection of antibodies for T. gondii and N.

A new electrophysiologic triad for identification and localization of the critical isthmus in atrial flutter.

Introduction: Atypical atrial flutter (AFL) is a supraventricular arrhythmia that can be treated with catheter ablation. However, this strategy yields suboptimal results and the best approach is yet to be defined. Carto® electroanatomical mapping (EAM) version 7 displays a histogram of the local activation times (LAT) of the tachycardia cycle length (TCL), in addition to activation and voltage maps.

Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators in Trials of Drug Therapy for Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND Medical therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction evolved since trials validated the use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). We sought to evaluate the performance of ICDs in reducing mortality in the era of modern medical therapy by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis of contemporary randomized clinical trials of drug therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. METHODS AND RESULTS We systematically identified randomized clinical trials that evaluated drug therapy in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction that reported mortality.

Enantioseparation, recognition mechanisms and binding of xanthones on human serum albumin by liquid chromatography.

To develop a method for enantioseparation of several chiral derivatives of xanthones (CDXs) by LC using a human serum albumin-chiral stationary phase (HSA-CSP) and screening CDX-HSA affinity. Additionally, recognition mechanisms were investigated. The influence of organic modifier, buffer type, pH and ionic strength of mobile phase, and temperature were explored.

Estimated Effectiveness and Safety of Nonvitamin K Antagonist Oral Anticoagulants Compared With Optimally Acenocoumarol Anticoagulated "Real-World" in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation.

Nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been proposed as an alternative to vitamin K antagonists in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients but the comparative benefits between NOACs and optimally anticoagulated patients is unknown. We estimated the absolute benefit in clinical outcomes rates of real-world effect of NOACs in optimally anticoagulated AF patients with acenocoumarol. We included 1,361 patients stable on acenocoumarol with time in therapeutic range of 100% and 6.

Comparison of multiparametric risk scores for predicting early mortality after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Introduction: Surgical risk scores are widely used to identify patients at high surgical risk who may benefit from transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). A multiparametric TAVI mortality risk score based on a French registry (FRANCE-2) has recently been developed. The aim of our study was to compare the 30-day mortality prediction performance of the FRANCE-2, EuroSCORE II and STS scores.

Highly efficient holograms based on c-Si metasurfaces in the visible range.

This paper reports on the first hologram in transmission mode based on a c-Si metasurface in the visible range. The hologram shows high fidelity and high efficiency, with measured transmission and diffraction efficiencies of ~65% and ~40%, respectively. Although originally designed to achieve full phase control in the range [0-2π] at 532 nm, these holograms have also performed well at 444.

Matão Controlling Hypertension (MatCH) project: Rationale and design.

Background: Hypertension is the main risk factor for most cardiovascular diseases. A coordinated and organized system from the Brazilian Ministry of Healthy involving Family Health Strategy (FHS), a program for the prevention of chronic disease, and the Popular Pharmacy Program (PPP), which subsidizes medications for the population, could allow an earlier identification and better blood pressure (BP) control. Matão Controlling Hypertension (MatCH) is a community-based population project that aims to apply an organized, integrated and coordinated program in the city of Matão, Brazil, involving FHS and PPP in order to actively search, treat and follow-up hypertensive subjects.

Post-procedural N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide predicts one-year mortality after transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

Introduction: Natriuretic peptides are ubiquitously used for diagnosis, follow-up and prognostic assessment in various heart conditions. N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) correlates with aortic stenosis severity, however its significance after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is not well established.

Aim: We aimed to assess the prognostic value of NT-proBNP at one year in patients undergoing TAVI.

Sleep-disordered breathing in heart failure: The state of the art after the SERVE-HF trial.

Heart failure (HF) is one of the most prevalent conditions worldwide and despite therapeutic advances, its prognosis remains poor. Among the multiple comorbidities in HF, sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is frequent and worsens the prognosis. Preliminary observational studies suggested that treatment of SDB could modify the prognosis of HF, and the issue has gained importance in recent years.

Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants compared with warfarin at different levels of INR control in atrial fibrillation: A meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Background: The efficacy and safety of warfarin for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) depend on the time in the therapeutic range (TTR) with an international normalised ratio (INR) of 2.0-3.0.

Relationship between rotors and complex fractionated electrograms in atrial fibrillation using a novel computational analysis.

Introduction: Rotors and complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAEs) have been suggested as possible therapeutic targets in ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between rotors and CFAEs in patients with AF.

Methods: We studied 18 patients with AF (mean age 69±8 years, 33% female) who underwent rotor ablation and pulmonary vein isolation.

Dabigatran in real-world atrial fibrillation. Meta-analysis of observational comparison studies with vitamin K antagonists.

In the RE-LY clinical trial, dabigatran presented a better effectiveness/safety profile when compared to warfarin. However, clinical trials are not very representative of the real-world setting. We aimed to assess the performance of dabigatran in real-world patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational comparison studies with vitamin K antagonists (VKA).

Wireless instrumentation system based on dry electrodes for acquiring EEG signals.

This paper presents a complete non-invasive Wireless acquisition system based on dry electrodes for electroencephalograms (WiDE-EEG) with emphasis in the electronic system design. The WiDE-EEG is composed by a 2.4 GHz radio-frequency (RF) transceiver, biopotential acquisition electronics and dry electrodes.