Opportunities and drawbacks of the subcutaneous defibrillator across different clinical settings.

Introduction: The subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) is an established therapy for the prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD) and an alternative to a transvenous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator system in selected patients. Beyond randomized clinical trials, many observational studies have described the clinical performance of S-ICD across different subgroups of patients.

Areas Covered: Our review aimed to describe the opportunities and drawbacks of the S-ICD, focusing on their use in special populations and across different clinical settings.

Cardiac electrophysiology and pacing educational and training needs among early-career cardiologists: a national survey of the Young Committee of the Italian Association of Arrhythmology and Cardiac Pacing.

Background: Over the past three decades, cardiac electrophysiology and pacing, including device therapy and catheter ablation of arrhythmias, has rapidly developed as a subspecialty in cardiology. Currently, there is no clear perception about the needs in cardiac electrophysiology and pacing among early-career cardiologists.

Methods: To address these concerns, the Young Committee of the Italian Association of Arrhythmology and Cardiac Pacing (AIAC) carried out a survey among those under the age of 40 years to obtain detailed information on practical activities and formal lessons during the fellowship in cardiology and their satisfaction and proficiency level at the end of the fellowship.

Two hearts synchronized each other with a DDD pacemaker.

: We describe the case of a patient with dyspnea and heterotopic cardiac transplant, ventricular fibrillation from the native heart and sinus rhythm from the transplanted one. The two hearts were synchronized with a pacemaker. Electric external cardioversion and a different type of pacemaker stimulation were successfully performed, with improving symptoms.

Ranolazine for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a frequent occurrence with advancing age and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, the currently available AF therapies have a great deal of side effects.

Areas Covered: In this review, the authors discuss the evidence upon which the use of Ranolazine as an anti-arrhythmic drug is based.