Minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery is an effective approach for treating inappropriate sinus tachycardia.

Introduction: Inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST) is characterized by increased heart rate out of proportion to normal physiologic demand. IST ablation is challenging for the electrophysiology community due to the epicardial location of the sinus node and the risk of phrenic nerve (PN) injury during catheter ablation. In this study, we investigated the safety and efficacy of a minimally invasive thoracoscopic surgery for elimination of IST.

Iatrogenic Ventricular Fibrillation after Direct-Current Cardioversion of Preexcited Atrial Fibrillation Caused by Inadvertent T-Wave Synchronization.

Direct-current cardioversion is an important means of managing arrhythmias. During treatment, carefully synchronizing energy delivery to the QRS complex is necessary to avoid ventricular fibrillation caused by a shock during the vulnerable period of ventricular repolarization, that is, a shock on the T wave. The presence of an accessory pathway and ventricular preexcitation can lead to difficulty in distinguishing the QRS complex from the T wave because of bizarre, wide, irregular QRS complexes and prominent repolarization.

In-Hospital Cerebrovascular Outcomes of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Cancer (from the National Inpatient Sample Database).

Limited data are available regarding the impact of cancer on cerebrovascular accidents in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). We queried the Nationwide Inpatient Survey Database to identify patients who have diagnostic code for AF. We performed a 1:1 propensity matching based on the CHADSVASc score and other risk factors between patients with AF who had lung, breast, colon, and esophageal cancer, and those who did not (control).

Postgraduate Education in Quality Improvement Methods: Initial Results of the Fellows' Applied Quality Training (FAQT) Curriculum.

Objective: Training in quality improvement (QI) is a pillar of the next accreditation system of the Accreditation Committee on Graduate Medical Education and a growing expectation of physicians for maintenance of certification. Despite this, many postgraduate medical trainees are not receiving training in QI methods. We created the Fellows Applied Quality Training (FAQT) curriculum for cardiology fellows using both didactic and applied components with the goal of increasing confidence to participate in future QI projects.