Safety, Feasibility and Economic Impact of Same-Day Discharge Following Atrial Fibrillation Ablation.

Background: The widely accepted model for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation involves overnight hospital stay post-procedure. Day case AF ablation has been carried out at Royal Papworth Hospital (RPH) since early 2017. We evaluated the feasibility, safety and efficacy of day case AF ablation at RPH.

Utility of speckle tracking echocardiography to characterize dysfunctional myocardium in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy referred for cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Background: Assessment of transmural scar at the site of latest mechanical activation is relevant to maximize outcomes in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Few studies have assessed the ability of speckle tracking echocardiography (STE)-derived short-axis strain to identify segmental myocardial scar, defined by contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), in patients referred for CRT.

Methods: A total of 26 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy who underwent preprocedure echocardiography and CMR were studied.