Scimitar Syndrome in Adulthood: Challenges in Management and Individualized Approaches.

Scimitar syndrome is a congenital disorder characterized by partial anomalous pulmonary venous return to the inferior vena cava (IVC). Clinical manifestation in adulthood is infrequent. The management approach has not been universally accepted and may be challenging.

Comparison of dipole-based and potential-based ECGI methods for premature ventricular contraction beat localization with clinical data.

Localization of premature ventricular contraction (PVC) origin to guide the radiofrequency ablation (RFA) procedure is one of the prominent clinical goals of non-invasive electrocardiographic imaging. However, the results reported in the literature vary significantly depending on the source model and the level of complexity in the forward model. This study aims to compare the paced and spontaneous PVC localization performances of dipole-based and potential-based source models and corresponding inverse methods using the same clinical data and to evaluate the effects of torso inhomogeneities on these performances.

Mechanisms Underlying Antiarrhythmic Properties of Cardioprotective Agents Impacting Inflammation and Oxidative Stress.

The prevention of cardiac life-threatening ventricular fibrillation and stroke-provoking atrial fibrillation remains a serious global clinical issue, with ongoing need for novel approaches. Numerous experimental and clinical studies suggest that oxidative stress and inflammation are deleterious to cardiovascular health, and can increase heart susceptibility to arrhythmias. It is quite interesting, however, that various cardio-protective compounds with antiarrhythmic properties are potent anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory agents.

Cardiac Connexin-43 Hemichannels and Pannexin1 Channels: Provocative Antiarrhythmic Targets.

Cardiac connexin-43 (Cx43) creates gap junction channels (GJCs) at intercellular contacts and hemi-channels (HCs) at the peri-junctional plasma membrane and sarcolemmal caveolae/rafts compartments. GJCs are fundamental for the direct cardiac cell-to-cell transmission of electrical and molecular signals which ensures synchronous myocardial contraction. The HCs and structurally similar pannexin1 (Panx1) channels are active in stressful conditions.

Pro-Arrhythmic Signaling of Thyroid Hormones and Its Relevance in Subclinical Hyperthyroidism.

A perennial task is to prevent the occurrence and/or recurrence of most frequent or life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular fibrillation (VF). VF may be lethal in cases without an implantable cardioverter defibrillator or with failure of this device. Incidences of AF, even the asymptomatic ones, jeopardize the patient's life due to its complication, notably the high risk of embolic stroke.

Predictive value of CHA2DS2-VASc scores regarding the risk of stroke and all-cause mortality in patients with atrial fibrillation (CONSORT compliant).

Background: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) have a higher risk of fatal complications (e.g., stroke).

Catheter ablation of idiopathic ventricular tachycardia originating from myocardial extensions into a noncoronary aortic cusp.

We present a 34-year-old woman with idiopathic ventricular tachycardia that resisted 2 previous attempts for catheter ablation and was successfully ablated in the myocardial extension within the noncoronary aortic cusp.

Robotic navigation in catheter ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: midterm efficacy and predictors of postablation arrhythmia recurrences.

Introduction: Remote navigation systems represent a novel strategy for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). The goal of this study is to describe a single-center experience with the electromechanical robotic system (Sensei, Hansen Medical) in treatment of patients with paroxysmal AF.

Methods: Out of 200 patients who underwent robotically guided ablation for AF between 2007 and 2009 at our institute, 100 patients (29 women, age 56.