Cryoballoon vs. radiofrequency catheter ablation: insights from NOrwegian randomized study of PERSistent Atrial Fibrillation (NO-PERSAF study).

Aims: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is still regarded as a cornerstone for treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). This study evaluated the effectiveness of PVI performed with cryoballoon ablation (CBA) in comparison with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in patients with persistent AF.

Methods And Results: A total of 101 patients with symptomatic persistent AF were enrolled and randomized (1:1) to CBA or RFA groups and followed up for 12 months.

Acute perimyocarditis with cardiac tamponade in COVID-19 infection without respiratory disease.

The COVID-19 pandemic with its severe respiratory disease has caused overflow to hospitals and intensive care units. Elevated troponins and natriuretic peptides are related to cardiac injury and poor prognosis. We present a young woman with COVID-19 infection with haemodynamic instability caused by acute perimyocarditis and cardiac tamponade.

Lung function and oxygen saturation after participation in Norseman Xtreme Triathlon.

Objectives: To examine evidence of exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB) defined as ≥10% reduction in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV ) and exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia (EIAH) defined as ≥4% reduction in oxygen saturation (SpO ) from before to after participation in the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon. Secondarily, to assess whether changes in FEV and SpO are related to respiratory symptoms, training volume, and race time.

Methods: In this quasi-experimental non-controlled study, we included 63 triathletes (50♂/13♀) aged 40.

Aerobic Interval Training Reduces the Burden of Atrial Fibrillation in the Short Term: A Randomized Trial.

Background: Exercise training is an effective treatment for important atrial fibrillation (AF) comorbidities. However, a high level of endurance exercise is associated with an increased AF prevalence. We assessed the effects of aerobic interval training (AIT) on time in AF, AF symptoms, cardiovascular health, and quality of life in AF patients.

Oral anticoagulant therapy for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing ablation: results from the First European Snapshot Survey on Procedural Routines for Atrial Fibrillation Ablation (ESS-PRAFA).

The European Snapshot Survey on Procedural Routines in Atrial Fibrillation Ablation (ESS-PRAFA) is a prospective, multicentre snapshot survey of patients undergoing atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, conducted to collect patient-based data on current clinical practices in AF ablation in context of the latest AF Guidelines and contemporary oral anticoagulant therapies. The EP Research Network Centres were asked to prospectively enrol consecutive patients during a 6-week period (September/October 2014). Data were collected via the web-based case report form.

Ventricular arrhythmias originating from the aortomitral continuity: an uncommon variant of left ventricular outflow tract tachycardia.

Aims: Ventricular arrhythmias arising from the fibrous rings have been demonstrated, but knowledge about the aortomitral continuity (AMC) as a source of the arrhytmias is still limited. The objective is to describe the characteristics of ventricular arrhythmias originating from the AMC in patients without structural heart disease.

Methods And Results: Ten patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT) and/or premature ventricular contractions, who had been successfully treated by catheter ablation at the AMC beneath the aortic valve, were enrolled.

A clinical study of patients with and without recurrence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation after pulmonary vein isolation.

Patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) can be treated by pulmonary vein (PV) isolation. However, the recurrence rate after this procedure is relatively high. We sought to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of patients with PAF recurrence after PV isolation and to analyze factors related to recurrences.

[Curative treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation with radiofrequency ablation].

Background: Atrial fibrillation is associated with increased morbidity and twice the mortality compared to individuals without fibrillation. Treatment with antiarrhythmic drugs has limited effect in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Material And Method: The group of patients comprised 59 men and 13 women with an average age of 51 +/- 10, the majority of whom had failed several drug regimens; some had undergone repeated DC conversions.

Global right atrial mapping delineates double posterior lines of block in patients with typical atrial flutter: a study using a three dimensional noncontact mapping system.

Unlabelled: Double Posterior Lines of Block in Typical Atrial Flutter.

Introduction: The crista terminalis (CT) has been shown to be a barrier to transverse conduction during typical atrial flutter (AFL). However, some studies have demonstrated the presence of functional block in the sinus venosa region but not at the CT.

Three-dimensional noncontact mapping defines two zones of slow conduction in the circuit of typical atrial flutter.

The cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) is a slow conduction area in the circuit of typical atrial flutter. However, conventional methods are limited by the inaccuracy of measurements of distance on the surface of the heart. The aim of the study was to define the conduction properties of the atrial flutter circuit along the tricuspid annulus by using a three-dimensional noncontact mapping system.

Identification of extremely slow conduction in the cavotricuspid isthmus during common atrial flutter ablation.

Introduction: Complete isthmus block has been used as an endpoint for radiofrequency ablation for common atrial flutter (AF). We sought to systematically evaluate extremely slow conduction (ESC), which is easily misinterpreted as complete block.

Methods And Results: We studied 107 consecutive patients (92 men, 15 women, 58 +/- 11 years) who had undergone a successful AF ablation procedure.

Acute resumption of conduction in the cavotricuspid isthmus after catheter ablation in patients with common atrial flutter. Real-time evaluation and long-term follow-up.

Aims: Cavotricuspid isthmus conduction (CIC) is closely associated with the maintenance and recurrence of common atrial flutter (AFL). This study systematically sought to assess the prevalence and characteristics of acute CIC recovery during AFL ablation and to define its predictors and its relationship with the results of long-term follow-up.

Methods And Results: A total of 124 consecutive patients (105 men, 19 women, mean age 58 +/- 11 years) who underwent successful AFL ablation were included.

[Radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrial flutter].

Background: The anatomical structure of atrial flutter is now well recognized, and treatment with radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFA) is established. Several recording and ablation techniques can be applied.

Material And Methods: An increasing number of patients have been treated with RFA at the Arrhythmia Centre at Haukeland University Hospital over the last six years.

[Atrial flutter--diagnosis and therapeutic possibilities].

Background: Atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation are among the most common heart rhythm disturbances in the population, with an assumed prevalence of 1-2%. About 40,000-60,000 Norwegians endure such rhythm disorders, with an increasing occurrence in the elderly population.

Material And Methods: Surface ECG remains the corner-stone for the clinical diagnosis.

[Myocardial injury in acute stroke assessed by troponin I].

Background: Acute ischaemic or haemorrhagic cerebrovascular events may produce myocardial damage. Cardiac troponin I is an indicator of cardiac cell injury with very high sensitivity and specificity.

Material And Methods: We measured troponin I in 149 acute stroke patients admitted to the stroke unit of Trondheim University Hospital, Norway, in January to June 1999.

A typical P-wave morphology in incessant atrial tachycardia originating from the right upper pulmonary vein.

Automatic atrial tachycardias often originate from the ostia of the pulmonary veins. P-wave morphology during tachycardia may indicate from which pulmonary vein the tachycardia originates. Two patients with pulmonary vein tachycardias demonstrating atypical P-wave morphology were investigated.

Left ventricular systolic and diastolic function assessed with two-dimensional and doppler echocardiography in "white coat" hypertension.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate left ventricular function in subjects with "white coat" hypertension, defined as office arterial diastolic pressure > or = 90 and ambulatory daytime pressures < 140/90 mm Hg.

Background: The white coat arterial pressure response may, by influencing left ventricular function, have a confounding effect in studies of heart disease.

Methods: Two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography combined with the calibrated subclavian arterial pulse tracing, were used to assess variables of left ventricular function in 26 subjects with white coat hypertension (office arterial diastolic pressure > or = 90 and < 115 mm Hg and ambulatory daytime diastolic pressure > or = 90 mm Hg) and 32 normotensive subjects.

Metformin improves blood lipid pattern in nondiabetic patients with coronary heart disease.

Objectives: To study whether the addition of metformin further improves the blood lipid pattern in non-diabetic patients with coronary heart disease already treated with lovastatin, diet and lifestyle advice.

Design: An open, prospective, randomized study in a university hospital setting.

Subjects: Sixty non-diabetic male patients previously treated with coronary artery bypass surgery or angioplasty and with serum cholesterol > or = 6.

Pulmonary venous flow velocities recorded by transthoracic Doppler ultrasound: relation to left ventricular diastolic pressures.

Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate whether pulmonary venous flow variables measured by transthoracic Doppler ultrasound can help identify patients with elevated left ventricular end-diastolic or filling pressures, or both.

Background: A widened left atrial pressure A wave occurs when left ventricular end-diastolic pressure is increased. Increased duration of pulmonary venous flow reversal at atrial systole might therefore be a marker for elevated end-diastolic pressure.

Cross-sectional left ventricular outflow tract velocities before and after aortic valve replacement: a comparative study with two-dimensional Doppler ultrasound.

To assess whether aortic valve replacement (AVR) results in changes in the flow velocity distribution in the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT), 10 patients undergoing AVR for aortic stenosis were studied. By extracting velocity information from color flow maps as digital data, instantaneous cross-sectional velocity profiles were constructed. Velocity profiles obtained 1 to 3 days before AVR were compared with recordings made 3 months later.

Two-dimensional echocardiography for prediction of aortic valve prosthesis size. A comparative study of Medtronic-Hall and Carpentier-Edwards supra-annular valves.

To assess the value of two-dimensional echocardiography (2D ECHO) for predicting prosthetic aortic valve size, the diameter of the aortic annulus was measured before implantation of a Medtronic-Hall valve in 24 patients and a Carpentier-Edwards supra-annular valve in 34. In the Medtronic-Hall group, the average prosthesis size was similar to the average annulus diameter, i.e.

Cross-sectional early mitral flow-velocity profiles from color Doppler in patients with mitral valve disease.

Background: Cross-sectional flow-velocity profiles from early mitral flow in 20 patients (10 with mitral regurgitation and 10 with mitral stenosis) were constructed from the velocity data from each point in sequentially delayed two-dimensional digital Doppler ultrasound maps.

Methods And Results: The data suggested that the early mitral flow studied in an apical four-chamber view was variably skewed in both patient groups. The maximum flow velocity overestimated the cross-sectional mean velocity at the same time by a factor of 1.