Clinical evaluation of a novel 12-hole irrigated tip catheter ablation system for the treatment of typical atrial flutter-results from the Duo FLAIR clinical study.

Introduction: Higher current density at the proximal end of a six-hole catheter is not irrigated and thus could lead to uneven heating and possibly coagulum and charring. This study tested a novel 12-hole irrigated catheter with six additional holes at the proximal end that provides more uniform cooling during atrial flutter (AFL) ablation.

Methods: A total of 188 patients (28 females, 66 ± 11 years) were treated for typical AFL at 22 sites in the USA and Canada using Cool Path Duo at 50 W and 45 °C at an irrigation rate of 13 ml/min.

Violent behavior among adolescents in post-war Lebanon: the role of personal factors and correlation with other problem behaviors.

Background: Adolescent violence is a significant public health problem. The primary objective of this study is to assess the prevalence and correlates of violent behavior among adolescent students in Lebanon.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among a representative sample of 827 secondary students enrolled in public and private schools in Beirut.

Postgraduate educational program for primary care physicians in remote areas in Lebanon.

Introduction: Continuing medical education (CME) is a requirement in many developed countries. Lebanon lacks such a rule; hence, the dictum "once a doctor always a doctor" holds. This article describes a pioneering postgraduate educational program for primary care physicians in remote areas of Lebanon.

Ethnic differences in weight loss behavior among secondary school students in Beirut: the role of weight perception.

Objectives: Assessing the prevalence of weight loss attempts in Beirut, Lebanon, a country characterized by a diversity of ethnic and religious groups and examining the interplay between ethnicity, body mass index (BMI) and weight perception and their relationship to weight loss behavior.

Methods: A school-based survey of risk behaviors conducted among secondary students (grade 10-12) in 1997. Subjects consisted of 827 boys and girls, aged 15 to 23 years, the majority of whom were Moslems (65.

Performance of an automatic external cardioverter-defibrillator algorithm in the discrimination of supraventricular from ventricular tachycardia.

An automatic external cardioverter-defibrillator (AECD) with a programmable supraventricular-ventricular tachycardia (VT) zone underwent evaluation of arrhythmia discrimination performance in the electrophysiologic laboratory during induced supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and unipolar and bipolar atrial pacing. The AECD SVT zone was programmed so that the induced SVT rate would fall within this zone. Atrial pacing was also performed at a rate within this zone.

Advances for treating in-hospital cardiac arrest: safety and effectiveness of a new automatic external cardioverter-defibrillator.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to prospectively analyze the performance and safety of a new programmable, fully automatic external cardioverter-defibrillator (AECD) in a European multicenter trial. BACKGROUND Although, the response time to cardiac arrest (CA) is a major determinant of mortality and morbidity, in-hospital strategies have not significantly changed during the last 30 years.

Methods: Patients (n = 117) at risk of CA in monitored wards (n = 51) and patients undergoing electrophysiologic testing or implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation (n = 66) were enrolled.