Atrial fibrillation in athletes.

A 60-year old male physician on staff at North Kansas City Hospital was admitted with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The physician is an avid long-distance runner. Ultimately, three other male physicians on staff, all long-distance runners, were identified as having lone atrial fibrillation.

A prospective randomized trial of early ambulation following 8 French diagnostic cardiac catheterization.

This prospective randomized study was done to assess the safety of 4-hr ambulation after diagnostic cardiac catheterization with 8 French sheaths and catheters. In this selected group of patients, we found that early ambulation could be done without an increase in access site complications.

Defibrillation shocks over epicardial patches produce sympathetic neural dysfunction in man.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of direct current (DC) shocks on cardiac sympathetic innervation in humans using I-123-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy. Decreased efferent sympathetic neural function has been demonstrated following > 10-J DC shocks delivered through epicardial patch electrodes in dogs. To evaluate the effect of DC shocks on cardiac sympathetic innervation in humans, we performed MIBG scintigraphy in 11 patients (ages 46 to 75 years) prior to and after receiving shocks from an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Spontaneous echo contrast following delivery of a shock from a transvenous implantable cardioverter defibrillator.

Spontaneous echo contrast has never been described in association with cardiac defibrillation. In this report, we present a patient who developed dense echo contrast as a result of a shock delivered from a transvenous defibrillator system.