Arrhythmias in congenital heart defects.

Aim Of The Study: Evaluation of the incidence and severity of late arrhythmias in patients with predisposing congenital heart defects--either due to the anatomy of the defect itself or as a result of a particular type of surgical intervention.

Patients And Methods: In a retrospective long-term study authors analyzed 158 patients (divided into 5 groups) with congenital heart defects after surgical correction. Evaluated were: the incidence of rhythm disturbances, the type of arrhythmia and the need for medication or intervention.

Prospective study of antibacterial susceptibility, risk factors and outcome of 157 episodes of Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia in 1999 in Slovakia.

This study prospectively investigated all 157 cases of Acinetobacter baumannii bacteremia occurring in major university hospitals or tertiary care institutions in Slovakia during 1999 in order to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility, risk factors and outcome. Resistance to meropenem was 7.4, gentamicin 35.

Native valve staphylococcal endocarditis: etiology, risk factors and outcome in 53 cases.

Fifty-three cases of staphylococcal endocarditis from a national endocarditis survey were analyzed for risk factors and outcome. Thirty of 53 patients had predisposing heart disease (39.6% rheumatic fever) but only 3 were on dialysis, only 2 had central venous catheter, only 2 intravenous drug abuse but 7 had prior cardiosurgery.

Triggered activity as the proposed mechanism of left atrial tachycardia induced by premature ventricular beats.

In a 57-year-old woman with complex ventricular ectopy, a paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia initiated by premature ventricular beats is presented. She underwent an electrophysiologic study. The tachycardia origin was localised to the left atrium.

Parasympathetic overactivity and its evaluation in patients with sinus nodal dysfunction.

In 17 controls, and 17 patients with sinus nodal dysfunction, an electrophysiologic study was made of sinus nodal function and atrioventricular nodal conduction in the basal state. The study was then repeated in all patients after atropine. The heart rate, mean sinus cycle length, variations of sinus cycle length, sinus node recovery times, sinuatrial conduction time, AH interval, and atrioventricular nodal Wenckebach threshold were significantly different in patients from those of controls.

[Ventricular tachycardia in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia. Electrophysiologic characteristics and testing of the effectiveness of anti-arrhythmia therapy].

The authors present a clinical and electrophysiological characteristic in two cases of symptomatic sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) with a QRS morphology of left bundle branch block, refractory to common antiarrhythmic treatment. It was confirmed that the mechanism of this arrhythmia associated with a high risk of sudden death is the reentry phenomenon and the authors analyzed its relationship to arrhythmogenic dysplasia of the right ventricle. In a way uncommon in our literature the authors demonstrate the importance of comprehensive electrophysiological examination in these serious cases and its usefulness in confirming the origin of VT in the right ventricle, its importance for mapping the accurate localization of tachycardia and the investigation of effectiveness of drugs and the evaluation of aptness of non-pharmacological treatment.

[A rational diagnostic program for hypertension in children].

Early screening of subjects liable to develop cardiovascular diseases is one of the main tasks of preventive cardiology of child age. The authors present a rational programme for the screening and diagnostic of hypertension in children, its aim being to differentiate primary and the most frequent secondary forms of hypertension; this will create prerequisites for its adequate treatment (non-pharmacological and pharmacological) as well as for dispensarization. Review.

Retrograde dual atrioventricular nodal pathway in patients with atrioventricular reciprocating tachycardia using concealed accessory pathways.

We present electrophysiological studies in two patients with atrioventricular reciprocating tachycardias. The first patient had anterograde dual atrioventricular nodal pathways with a right-sided concealed accessory pathway. The retrograde atrioventricular nodal pathway showed evidence suggestive of slow pathway properties.

Comparison of indirect and direct methods for determination of sinoatrial conduction time.

We have performed an electrophysiologic study (EPS) in 18 subjects (mean age 21 +/- 17 years) with normal sinus node function (group A) and in 15 patients (mean age 43 +/- 26 years) with sinus node dysfunction (group B). Three extrastimulus methods (both Strauss and Kirkorian methods and our modification of the extrastimulus method) were carried out in 31 patients of both groups and sinoatrial conduction times (SACTSTR, SACTKIR,SACTMOD) could be estimated in 27 of them. SACT by the Narula method (SACTNAR) was assessed in 25 patients of both groups.

Treatment of renal hypertension in children by captopril.

Nine children aged 2 months to 13 (mean 6.6) years with renal hypertension were treated with captopril. The treatment lasted for 1.

Pediatrical case histories analyzed by means of a computer.

The authors present their first version of the formation of anamnestic case histories (family, personal, epidemiological, and social) by means of a conversation between the physician and the computer. During the recording a set of the means of expression is used, this allows for an exhaustive compilation and recording of various types of case histories. The means of expression called variables make up the questionnaire sentence.