Publications by authors named "Michael Spartalis"

Article Synopsis
  • Acute heart failure (AHF) patients exhibit a wide range of symptoms and risks, making them a complex group to manage, with increased chances of dangerous ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) during episodes.
  • New VAs during AHF correlate with higher morbidity and mortality in hospitals, but there is ongoing debate about when to perform coronary interventions or implant defibrillators.
  • Different European countries have varying emergency medical capabilities for treating AHF and VAs, and while guidelines exist for chronic heart failure, less is known about arrhythmias in AHF, prompting this consensus paper to propose better ways to identify and treat these complications.
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Atrial high-rate episodes (AHRE) are atrial tachyarrhythmias that are identified by the use of continuous rhythm monitoring devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, or implantable cardiac monitors. Nevertheless, the therapeutic implications of these rhythm disturbances remain uncertain. The presence of AHRE is associated with an increased risk of stroke as compared to patients who do not exhibit AHRE.

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Interventional electrophysiology represents a relatively recent subspecialty within the field of cardiology. In the past half-century, there has been significant advancement in the development and implementation of innovative ablation treatments and approaches. However, the treatment of arrhythmias continues to be inadequate.

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It is well known that thyroid dysfunction increases the risk of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. The pleiotropic effect of thyroid hormones has a profound effect on the cardiovascular system, influencing both the formation of a normal cardiac rhythm and rhythm disturbance. A number of research studies have demonstrated correlations between TSH and FT4 levels and significant cardiovascular events.

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Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) has become the cornerstone of heart failure (HF) treatment. Despite the obvious benefit from this therapy, an estimated 30% of CRT patients do not respond ("non-responders"). The cause of "non-response" is multi-factorial and includes suboptimal device settings.

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Following heart surgery, postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent kind of secondary AF and the most frequent adverse event. Postoperative AF is related to a number of unfavorable cardiac outcomes, such as heart failure, stroke, and death. However, the pharmacological treatment for postoperative AF is only relatively efficient and is frequently linked to detrimental complications, including symptomatic bradycardia with atrioventricular block due to rate control drugs and elevated hemorrhage hazard attributable to the administration of anticoagulants.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent advances in machine learning enable better analysis of patient data to predict outcomes, particularly for cardiogenic shock (CS) in patients with acute coronary syndrome using the MIMIC III database.
  • This study focuses on improving data quality through various imputation techniques to handle missing data, comparing methods like k-nearest neighbors and Multiple Imputation by Chained Equations.
  • The final model demonstrated strong classification performance with a mean area under the curve of 0.805, suggesting the potential utility of this data processing pipeline for other predictive analytics in healthcare.
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  • Recent studies highlight the significant role of the immune system and inflammation in the development of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD).
  • This new understanding could lead to better ways to assess risk and develop treatments for CVD.
  • BMC Cardiovascular Disorders has responded by creating a Collection focused on exploring "Immunity and Inflammation in Cardiovascular Disorders" to fill existing knowledge gaps.
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Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a frequent rhythm disturbance that raises the possibility of heart failure (HF) and stroke. AF is a multifactorial disorder combining genetic and environmental etiologies. Over the last decade, advancements have been made regarding the genetic base of this arrhythmia.

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Background: Limited data is available about the outcome of TLE in patients with vs. without high energy leads in the last decade. Methods: This is an analysis of consecutive patients undergoing TLE at a high-volume TLE centre from 2001 to 2021 using the stepwise approach.

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Background: Abnormal ventricular signals (AVS) are the cornerstone of substrate-based ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation in sinus rhythm. Signal characterization of AVS in ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathies has never been performed.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe ventricular signal abnormalities in 3 different pathologies and examine their association with the diastolic component of VT circuits.

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Article Synopsis
  • Diabetes leads to serious heart issues like coronary artery disease and diabetic cardiomyopathy, but it also disrupts the heart's electrical system, increasing the risk of dangerous arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
  • Arrhythmias related to diabetes are influenced by more than just reduced blood flow or nerve damage; changes in blood sugar levels (both low and high) can trigger these heart rhythm problems through various biological pathways.
  • Structural changes in heart tissue and issues with cell energy production can worsen these conditions, as they promote inflammation and oxidative stress that further compromise heart health.
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A minority of premature ventricular contractions (PVC) and ventricular tachycardias (VT) have an intramural origin, which represents a challenge for conventional radiofrequency ablation. Bipolar ablation has the potential ability to create deeper and more transmural lesions and has been demonstrated to be optimal treatment in these cases. Bipolar ablation carries a relatively low risk of complications and is effective in eliminating or reducing the burden of ventricular arrhythmias.

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COVID-19 causes severe illness that results in morbidity and mortality. Electrocardiographic features, including QT prolongation, have been associated with poor acute outcomes; data on the medium-term outcomes remain scarce. This study evaluated the 1-year outcomes of patients who survived the acute COVID-19 infection.

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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death worldwide, representing a major health, social, and economic issue. Thyroid disorders are very common and affect >10% of the adult population in total. The aim of this review is to describe the physiologic role of thyroid hormones on cardiovascular system, to present cardiovascular manifestations in patients with thyroid disorders, emphasizing in molecular mechanisms and biochemical pathways, and to summarize current knowledge of treatment options.

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Background: after transvenous lead extraction (TLE) of cardiac implantable electric devices (CIEDs), some patients may not benefit from device reimplantation. This study sought to analyse predictors and long-term outcome of patients after TLE with vs. without reimplantation in a high-volume centre.

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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed many aspects of our everyday lives and medical practice, including oncology treatment; thyroid cancer surgery is not an exception. The reported number of fine-needle aspirations performed during the first semester of 2020 was significantly reduced. Poorly differentiated, medullary and anaplastic thyroid tumors are considered important indications for immediate surgical intervention.

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