Microbial contamination and the sterilization/disinfection of surgical guides used in the placement of endosteal implants.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to estimate the level of microbial contamination found on commercial guides (CG) and in-house laboratory guides (LG) prior to use, and (2) to evaluate the antimicrobial potential of disinfectants commonly used in dentistry to decontaminate heat-sensitive surgical guides. Ethylene oxide gas was used as the positive control; sterile water served as a negative control.

Materials And Methods: Evaluation of CGs and LGs for bacterial contamination occurred soon after their arrival in the laboratory.

Atrial flutter versus atrial fibrillation in a general population: differences in comorbidities associated with their respective onset.

Objective: Determine and compare the prevalence of known risk factors for cardiovascular disease among unselected individuals presenting with their first ever episode of atrial flutter (AFL) and atrial fibrillation (AF).

Study Design And Setting: We evaluated 11 pre-selected clinical variables including age, sex, smoking history and other potential cardiac risk factors. Using the resources of the Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area, a population-based database, all newly diagnosed cases of either AFL or AF in the region during a 4-year period were identified.

Prevalence and mortality of patients with myocardial infarction and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction in a defined community: relation to the second multicenter automatic defibrillator implantation trial.

Objectives: We compared characteristics and mortality of patients from a community population meeting enrollment criteria of the second Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial (MADIT II) to those of the MADIT II subjects.

Background: MADIT II showed that implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduce mortality in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and low left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)
Methods: We used the resources of the Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area (MESA), a well defined geographic region to identify MADIT II-type patients and determined outcomes during a 2-year follow-up period.

Familial atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia.

Dual atrioventricular nodal pathways, the substrate responsible for atrioventricular node reentry tachycardia (AVNRT), are thought to be randomly occurring congenital anomalies. This article describes 14 patients in six families, each with two or three first-degree relatives with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Electrophysiological evidence of dual atrioventricular nodal pathways was established in all 13 patients studied, AVNRT was induced in 12 (92%), and radiofrequency ablation of the slow pathway was curative in all cases.

A population-based study of mortality among patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter.

Purpose: To determine the mortality associated with atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation in the general population.

Subjects And Methods: Using the Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area, a database that captures nearly all medical care and deaths among its 58,820 residents, we identified patients diagnosed with atrial flutter or atrial fibrillation from July 1, 1991, through June 30, 1995. Patients were followed prospectively and compared with a group of controls without these arrhythmias.