Left Ventricular Entry to Reduce Brain Lesions During Catheter Ablation: A Randomized Trial.

Background: Catheter ablation of ventricular arrhythmias, one of the most rapidly growing procedures in cardiac electrophysiology, is associated with magnetic resonance imaging-detected brain lesions in more than half of cases. Although a retrograde aortic approach is conventional, modern tools enable entry through a transseptal approach that may avoid embolization of debris from the arterial system. We sought to test the hypothesis that a transseptal puncture would mitigate brain injury compared with a retrograde aortic approach.

The role of the left primary motor cortex in apraxia.

Background: Apraxia is a motor-cognitive disorder that primary sensorimotor deficits cannot solely explain. Previous research in stroke patients has focused on damage to the fronto-parietal praxis networks in the left hemisphere (LH) as the cause of apraxic deficits. In contrast, the potential role of the (left) primary motor cortex (M1) has largely been neglected.

Rate-Dependent Pacemap Matching in Scar-Related Ventricular Tachycardia: Impact of "TR Fusion" Phenomenon.

Background: The impact of varying rates of pacemapping (PM) rates on QRS morphology and PM score matching in patients with scar-related ventricular tachycardia (VT) has not been systematically assessed.

Objectives: In this study, the authors sought to assess the variability in PM score matching at different pacing rates.

Methods: During substrate mapping for VT ablation, PM was performed at cycle lengths (CLs) of 600 ms, 500 ms, 400 ms, 300 ms, and VT CL.

MRI in Patients with Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Devices and Fractured or Abandoned Leads.

Purpose To examine the clinical effect of lead length and lead orientation in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) and lead fragments or abandoned leads undergoing 1.5-T MRI. Materials and Methods This Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant retrospective study included patients with CIEDs and abandoned leads or lead fragments undergoing 1.

Age- and sex-related changes in motor functions: a comprehensive assessment and component analysis.

Age-related motor impairments often cause caregiver dependency or even hospitalization. However, comprehensive investigations of the different motor abilities and the changes thereof across the adult lifespan remain sparse. We, therefore, extensively assessed essential basic and complex motor functions in 444 healthy adults covering a wide age range (range 21 to 88 years).

Temporal binding and sense of agency in major depression.

Background: Alterations in the experience of controlling oneself and one's environment are of high relevance to understanding the psychopathology of depression. This study investigated the relationship between Temporal Binding for action-event sequences, sense of agency, self-efficacy and symptom severity in Major Depressive Disorder.

Method: We employed the Sense of Agency Scale (SoAS) and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) to assess explicit Sense of Agency and self-efficacy in a group of 42 persons diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) [20 identifying as female, 19 as male; mean age 37.

Cortical Tau Aggregation Patterns associated with Apraxia in Alzheimer's Disease.

Objectives: Apraxia is a core feature of Alzheimer's disease, but the pathomechanism of this characteristic symptom is not well understood. Here, we systematically investigated apraxia profiles in a well-defined group of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD; N=32) who additionally underwent PET imaging with the second-generation tau PET tracer [18F]PI-2620. We hypothesized that specific patterns of tau pathology might be related to apraxic deficits.

Use of three-dimensional electroanatomic mapping for epicardial access: needle tracking, electrographic characteristics, and clinical application.

Aims: Pericardiocentesis is usually completed under fluoroscopy. The electroanatomic mapping (EAM) system allows visualizing puncture needle tip (NT) while displaying the electrogram recorded from NT, making it possible to obtain epicardial access (EA) independent of fluoroscopy. This study was designed to establish and validate a technique by which EA is obtained under guidance of three-dimensional (3D) EAM combined with NT electrogram.

Neural correlates of confidence during decision formation in a perceptual judgment task.

When we make a decision, we also estimate the probability that our choice is correct or accurate. This probability estimate is termed our degree of decision confidence. Recent work has reported event-related potential (ERP) correlates of confidence both during decision formation (the centro-parietal positivity component; CPP) and after a decision has been made (the error positivity component; Pe).

Preoperative motor deficits and depressive symptoms predict quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease at different time points after surgery for subthalamic stimulation: a retrospective study.

Background: While subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) improves the quality of life (QoL) of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), the clinical parameters that predict this improvement remain debated. This retrospective study explored whether preoperative motor, cognitive, and affective parameters predict QoL or its components at 6 and 12 months after STN-DBS surgery.

Methods: QoL was assessed with the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) before (baseline), at 6 months (N = 90) and 12 months (N = 63) after STN-DBS surgery.

Affection of Motor Network Regions by Tau Pathology Across the Alzheimer's Disease Spectrum.

Stereotypical isocortical tau protein pathology along the Braak stages has been described as an instigator of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Less is known about tau pathology in motor regions, although higher-order motor deficits such as praxis dysfunction are part of the clinical description. Here, we examined how tau pathology in cytoarchitectonically mapped regions of the primary and higher-order motor network in comparison to primary visual and sensory regions varies across the clinical spectrum of AD.

Incidence of cryoballoon expansion dislodgement during pulmonary vein isolation-An underappreciated frequent cause of incomplete isolation.

Background: Cryoballoon ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) requires adequate contact between the pulmonary vein (PV) antrum and cryoballoon. The surge of intraballoon pressure during the initial phase of ablation may change the balloon's shape and compliance, resulting in balloon dislodgement and loss of PV occlusion. Without continuous monitoring, this phenomenon is often undetected but can be associated with incomplete PV isolation (PVI).

Initial clinical experience of atrial fibrillation ablation guided by a cryoballoon-compatible, magnetic-based circular catheter.

Introduction: The circular catheter compatible with current cryoballoon system for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation is exclusively sensed by impedance-based electro-anatomical mapping (EAM) system, limiting the accuracy of maps. We aim to investigate the feasibility and safety of a magnetic-based circular mapping catheter for AF ablation with cryoballoon.

Methods: Nineteen consecutive patients who underwent pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with cryoballoon for paroxysmal or persistent AF were included.

Increased functional connectivity between the auditory cortex and the frontoparietal network compensates for impaired visuomotor transformation after early auditory deprivation.

Early auditory deprivation leads to a reorganization of large-scale brain networks involving and extending beyond the auditory system. It has been documented that visuomotor transformation is impaired after early deafness, associated with a hyper-crosstalk between the task-critical frontoparietal network and the default-mode network. However, it remains unknown whether and how the reorganized large-scale brain networks involving the auditory cortex contribute to impaired visuomotor transformation after early deafness.

Vasovagal Responses to Human Monomorphic Ventricular Tachycardia: Hemodynamic Implications From Sinus Rate Analysis.

Background: Factors determining hemodynamic stability during human ventricular tachycardia (VT) are incompletely understood.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to characterize sinus rate (SR) responses during monomorphic VT in association with hemodynamic stability and to prospectively assess the effects of vagolytic therapy on VT tolerance.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing scar-related VT ablation.

Identification of Human Ventricular Tachycardia Demarcated by Fixed Lines of Conduction Block in a 3-Dimensional Hyperboloid Circuit.

Background: The circuit boundaries for reentrant ventricular tachycardia (VT) have been historically conceptualized within a 2-dimensional (2D) construct, with their fixed or functional nature unresolved. This study aimed to examine the correlation between localized lines of conduction block (LOB) evident during baseline rhythm with lateral isthmus boundaries that 3-dimensionally constrain the VT isthmus as a hyperboloid structure.

Methods: A total of 175 VT activation maps were correlated with isochronal late activation maps during baseline rhythm in 106 patients who underwent catheter ablation for scar-related VT from 3 centers (42% nonischemic cardiomyopathy).