Electrophysiological Safety Profile of Antiestrogenic Therapies in the Isolated Rabbit Heart.

Introduction: Hormone-mediated therapies are on the rise and are key therapies in the treatment of some of the most common cancer entities. Proarrhythmic effects have been described in patients treated with SERMs while little to none is known about the electrophysiological effects of the potentially less arrhythmogenic selective estrogen receptor degraders.

Methods: Twenty hearts of female New Zealand White rabbits were excised and retrogradely perfused employing a Langendorff setup.

Usefulness of the MADIT-ICD Benefit Score in a Large Mixed Patient Cohort of Primary Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death.

Background: Decision-making in primary prevention is not always trivial and many clinical scenarios are not reflected in current guidelines. To help evaluate a patient’s individual risk, a new score to predict the benefit of an implantable defibrillator (ICD) for primary prevention, the MADIT-ICD benefit score, has recently been proposed. The score tries to predict occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias and non-arrhythmic death based on data from four previous MADIT trials.

Experimental evidence for proarrhythmic effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in a sensitive whole-heart model.

Background: Previous studies have raised serious concerns on cardiovascular safety of widely prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Therefore, the aim of this study was to characterize the electrophysiological effects of certain NSAIDs in an established whole heart model of proarrhythmia.

Methods And Results: Thirty-eight hearts of New Zealand White rabbits were harvested and retrogradely perfused employing a Langendorff setup, and electrophysiology studies were performed to investigate action potential duration at 90% of repolarization (APD ), QT intervals, and effective refractory period (ERP).

Antiarrhythmic Effect of Ranolazine in Combination with Selective NCX-Inhibition in an Experimental Model of Atrial Fibrillation.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a combination of ranolazine with different selective inhibitors of the Na/Ca-exchanger (NCX) in an established experimental model of atrial fibrillation (AF). Eighteen hearts of New Zealand white rabbits were retrogradely perfused. Atrial catheters were used to record monophasic action potentials (aPRR).

Outcome of catheter ablation in the very elderly-insights from a large matched analysis.

Background: Ablation emerged as first line therapy in the treatment of various arrhythmias. Nevertheless, in older patients (pts), decision is often made pro drug treatment as more complications and less benefit are suspected.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that different kind of ablations can be performed safely regardless of the pts age.

Slow pathway modification in patients presenting with only two consecutive AV nodal echo beats.

Background: Slow pathway modification (SPM) is the therapy of choice for AV-nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT). When AVNRT is not inducible, empirical ablation can be considered, however, the outcome in patients with two AV nodal echo beats (AVNEBs) is unknown.

Methods: Out of a population of 3003 patients who underwent slow pathway modification at our institution between 1993 and 2013, we retrospectively included 32 patients with a history of symptomatic tachycardia, lack of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (pSVT) inducibility but occurrence of two AVNEBs.