Publications by authors named "R C Schilling"

Background: The sympathetic autonomic nervous system plays a major role in arrhythmia development and maintenance. Historical preclinical studies describe preferential increases in cardiac sympathetic tone upon selective stimulation of the subclavian ansae (SA), a nerve cord encircling the subclavian artery.

Objectives: This study sought to define, for the first time, the functional anatomy and physiology of the SA in humans using a percutaneous approach.

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In the last three decades, ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) has become an evidence-based safe and efficacious treatment for managing the most common cardiac arrhythmia. In 2007, the first joint expert consensus document was issued, guiding healthcare professionals involved in catheter or surgical AF ablation. Mounting research evidence and technological advances have resulted in a rapidly changing landscape in the field of catheter and surgical AF ablation, thus stressing the need for regularly updated versions of this partnership which were issued in 2012 and 2017.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The researchers developed a new measurement called the restitution threshold index (RTI), which reflects the burden of short R-R intervals and found it correlates with reduced LVEF and improvement in LVEF after catheter ablation (CA).
  • * In a study with 104 patients, those with reduced LVEF had a significantly higher RTI, indicating it as a strong predictor for recognizing the risk of LVEF decline and predicting recovery after CA.
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Article Synopsis
  • Atrial fibrillation-induced cardiomyopathy (AIC) is characterized by a drop in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) due to AF, but the reasons why some patients develop AIC are still unclear.* -
  • The study hypothesizes that subtle heart muscle issues exist before LVEF decreases; therefore, a detailed examination of heart function following successful catheter ablation is essential to identify these features.* -
  • Results show that out of 41 participants, 82.9% recovered LVEF post-ablation, yet many still had signs of heart dysfunction, with significant portions exhibiting elevated NT-proBNP levels, ongoing heart failure symptoms, and impaired heart performance despite normalization of LVEF.*
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