Improvement of Retinal Microcirculation after Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation-An Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study.

Purpose: To evaluate retinal and optic nerve head (ONH) perfusion in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) before and after catheter ablation of AF with pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).

Methods: 34 eyes of 34 patients with AF and 35 eyes of 35 healthy subjects were included in this study. Flow density data were obtained using spectral-domain OCT-A (RTVue XR Avanti with AngioVue, Optovue, Inc, Fremont, California, USA).

Cardiac glycosides are not associated with increased mortality or hospitalization rates in ICD and CRT-ICD patients after adjustment for baseline-characteristics at one-year follow-up: Results from the German DEVICE registry.

Aims: Despite lacking supporting randomized trials, cardiac glycosides (CGs) are widely used in heart failure and/or atrial fibrillation. Moreover, several pro- and retrospective studies and registry-data have recently raised serious concerns in terms of efficacy and safety of CGs in this field. We have therefore examined the association between CGs and clinical outcome of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization (CRT-ICD) patients of the large German DEVICE registry.

Extended ECG monitoring with an implantable loop recorder in patients with cryptogenic stroke: time schedule, reasons for explantation and incidental findings (results from the TRACK-AF trial).

Background: Implantable loop recorders (ILR) may be used to detect occult atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with cryptogenic stroke. At present, there has been no description on the incidental findings of stored episodes in these patients. Furthermore, no standard practice has been established with respect to the duration of continued ECG monitoring in these patients.

Direct comparison of the novel automated screening tool (AST) versus the manual screening tool (MST) in patients with already implanted subcutaneous ICD.

Background: The subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD) has evolved as a valuable alternative to the transvenous ICD, especially in young patients. Unfortunately, some of these patients are ineligible for S-ICD implantation due to specific electrocardiographic features. So far, these patients were identified by mandatory pre-implantation screening using the manual screening tool (MST), which lacks objective value.

[Management of inappropriate shocks/T-wave-oversensing in S-ICD®-patients].

Inappropriate shocks are a feared complication after implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation and have a tremendous impact on quality of life. Inappropriate shocks in patients with subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD®, Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA, USA) have various underlying causes. This review summarizes the current literature on this topic and lists possible treatment options.

Ursodeoxycholic acid impairs atherogenesis and promotes plaque regression by cholesterol crystal dissolution in mice.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease driven primarily by a continuous retention of cholesterol within the subendothelial space where it precipitates to form cholesterol crystals (CC). These CC trigger a complex inflammatory response through activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and promote lesion development. Here we examined whether increasing cholesterol solubility with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) affects vascular CC formation and ultimately atherosclerotic lesion development.

Cyclodextrin promotes atherosclerosis regression via macrophage reprogramming.

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease linked to elevated blood cholesterol concentrations. Despite ongoing advances in the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Continuous retention of apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins in the subendothelial space causes a local overabundance of free cholesterol.

High-density lipoprotein mediates anti-inflammatory reprogramming of macrophages via the transcriptional regulator ATF3.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) mediates reverse cholesterol transport and is known to be protective against atherosclerosis. In addition, HDL has potent anti-inflammatory properties that may be critical for protection against other inflammatory diseases. The molecular mechanisms of how HDL can modulate inflammation, particularly in immune cells such as macrophages, remain poorly understood.