Cardiopulmonary exercise responses in patients with non-ischemic heart failure and a mildly reduced ejection fraction.

The cardiopulmonary response to exercise in patients with heart failure exhibiting a mildly reduced ejection fraction (41% ≤ EF ≤ 49%) remains unclear. A total of 193 consecutive patients with heart failure (excluding those with coronary artery disease) who underwent cardiopulmonary exercise (CPX) tests were examined. CPX variables were compared among patients with reduced, mildly reduced, and preserved EF.

Impact of periprocedural anticoagulation therapy on the incidence of silent stroke after atrial fibrillation ablation in patients receiving direct oral anticoagulants: uninterrupted vs. interrupted by one dose strategy.

Aims: Data on the comparison between uninterrupted and interrupted by one dose strategies for direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) use during the periprocedural period of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation are scarce. The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of uninterrupted DOAC strategy by evaluating the incidence of silent stroke (SS) and perioperative trends in coagulation markers compared with the interrupted strategy.

Methods And Results: We randomly divided 200 consecutive patients receiving DOACs, who underwent AF ablation into uninterrupted group (UG = 100) and interrupted by one dose group (IG = 100).

Clinical Characteristics of Nonobese Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome and Increased Epicardial Fat Volume.

Aim: Increased epicardial fat volume (EFV) is an independent risk factor for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Although EFV increases with body mass index (BMI), some ACS patients have an increased EFV but normal BMI. We here investigated the clinical characteristics of nonobese ACS patients with an increased EFV.