Deceleration capacity derived from a five-minute electrocardiogram predicts mortality in the general population.

In contemporary healthcare, effective risk stratification in the general population is vital amidst rising chronic disease rates and an ageing demographic. Deceleration Capacity of the heart rate (DC), derived from 24-hour Holter electrocardiograms, holds promise in risk stratification for cardiac patients. However, the potential of short-term electrocardiograms of five minutes duration for population screening has not been fully explored.

Integration of genetic testing into diagnostic pathways for cardiomyopathies: a clinical consensus statement by the ESC Council on Cardiovascular Genomics.

In the modern era, cardiologists managing patients and families with cardiomyopathies need to be familiar with every stage of the diagnostic pathway from clinical phenotyping to the prescription and interpretation of genetic tests. This clinical consensus statement from the ESC Council for Cardiovascular Genomics aims to promote the integration of genetic testing into routine cardiac care of patients with cardiomyopathies, as recommended in the 2023 ESC guidelines for cardiomyopathies. The document describes the types of genetic tests currently available and provides advice on their prescription and for counselling after the return of genetic findings, including the approach in patients and families with variants of unknown significance.

RV-PA uncoupling is associated with increased mortality in transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy treated with tafamidis.

Background: The right ventricle to pulmonary artery coupling (RV-PAc) describes the right ventricle's ability to adjust to an increased afterload. In case of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), impaired RV-PAc can result from increased left ventricular diastolic stiffness due to fibril deposition.

Objectives: While RV-PAc is a validated prognostic parameter in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), its prognostic relevance in ATTR-CM remains unknown.

EYE-ECG: An RCT of the influence of student characteristics and expert eye-tracking videos with cued retrospective reporting on students' ECG interpretation skills.

Objectives: Teaching of ECG interpretation frequently relies on visual schemas. However, subsequent student ECG interpretation skills are often poor. Expertise research shows that expert looking patterns frequently deviate from the steps taught in schema learning.

Real-world experience in initiation of treatment with the selective cardiomyosin inhibitor mavacamten in an outpatient clinic cohort during the 12-week titration period.

Introduction: Lately, mavacamten emerged as a new therapeutic option for symptomatic patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM). Clinical trials revealed reduction of serum biomarkers, and left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction, as well as an improvement in clinical symptoms and exercise capacity. Nevertheless, clinical experience and manageability of patients in a real-world setting is still lacking.

Telemedical management of symptomatic COVID-19 outpatients.

Background: COVID-19 remains a challenge to individual health and healthcare resources worldwide. Telemedical surveillance might minimise hospitalisation and direct patient-physician contacts. Yet, randomised clinical trials evaluating telemedical management of COVID-19 patients are lacking.

PITX2 deficiency leads to atrial mitochondrial dysfunction.

Aims: Reduced left atrial PITX2 is associated with atrial cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation (AF). PITX2 is restricted to left atrial cardiomyocytes (aCMs) in the adult heart. The links between PITX2 deficiency, atrial cardiomyopathy, and AF are not fully understood.

Catheter-based ablation to improve outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: Rationale and design of the CABA-HFPEF-DZHK27 trial.

Aims: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common in heart failure (HF) and negatively impacts outcomes. The role of ablation-based rhythm control in patients with AF and HF with preserved (HFpEF) or mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) is not known. The CABA-HFPEF-DZHK27 (CAtheter-Based Ablation of atrial fibrillation compared to conventional treatment in patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction) trial will determine whether early catheter ablation for AF can prevent adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with HFpEF or HFmrEF.

Quantitative assessment of cardiac iodo-metaiodobenzylguanidine SPECT/CT in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy: Novel insight in disease monitoring.

Background: The heart-to-mediastinum ratio (H/M-Ratio) of iodo-metaiodobenzylguanidine (I-MIBG) represents state-of-the-art assessment for sympathetic dysfunction in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). This study aims to evaluate quantitative reconstruction of I-MIBG uptake and to demonstrate its correlation with echocardiographic parameters.

Methods: Cardiac innervation was assessed in 23 patients diagnosed with definite ARVC or borderline ARVC and 12 patients with other cardiac disease presenting arrhythmia, using quantitative I-MIBG Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Computed Tomography (SPECT/CT) imaging.

Plasma proteome association with coronary heart disease and carotid intima media thickness: results from the KORA F4 study.

Background And Aims: Atherosclerosis is the main cause of stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD), both leading mortality causes worldwide. Proteomics, as a high-throughput method, could provide helpful insights into the pathological mechanisms underlying atherosclerosis. In this study, we characterized the associations of plasma protein levels with CHD and with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), as a surrogate measure of atherosclerosis.

Biomarker Periodic Repolarization Dynamics Indicates Enhanced Risk for Arrhythmias and Sudden Cardiac Death in Myocardial Infarction in Pigs.

Background: Periodic repolarization dynamics (PRD) is an electrocardiographic biomarker that captures repolarization instability in the low frequency spectrum and is believed to estimate the sympathetic effect on the ventricular myocardium. High PRD indicates an increased risk for postischemic sudden cardiac death (SCD). However, a direct link between PRD and proarrhythmogenic autonomic remodeling has not yet been shown.

Clinical practice of continuous rhythm monitoring after embolic stroke of undetermined source.

Aims: Embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) accounts for up to 20% of ischemic strokes annually. Undetected atrial fibrillation (AF) is one important potential underlying cause. For AF, oral anticoagulation has evolved as the most preferable means of secondary stroke prevention.

Longer and better lives for patients with atrial fibrillation: the 9th AFNET/EHRA consensus conference.

Aims: Recent trial data demonstrate beneficial effects of active rhythm management in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and support the concept that a low arrhythmia burden is associated with a low risk of AF-related complications. The aim of this document is to summarize the key outcomes of the 9th AFNET/EHRA Consensus Conference of the Atrial Fibrillation NETwork (AFNET) and the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA).

Methods And Results: Eighty-three international experts met in Münster for 2 days in September 2023.

Atrial fibrosis heterogeneity is a risk for atrial fibrillation in pigs with ischaemic heart failure.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. Ischaemic heart failure (IHF) remains one of the most common causes of AF in clinical practice. However, ischaemia-mediated mechanisms leading to AF are still incompletely understood, and thus, current treatment approaches are limited.

An angiopoietin 2, FGF23, and BMP10 biomarker signature differentiates atrial fibrillation from other concomitant cardiovascular conditions.

Early detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) enables initiation of anticoagulation and early rhythm control therapy to reduce stroke, cardiovascular death, and heart failure. In a cross-sectional, observational study, we aimed to identify a combination of circulating biomolecules reflecting different biological processes to detect prevalent AF in patients with cardiovascular conditions presenting to hospital. Twelve biomarkers identified by reviewing literature and patents were quantified on a high-precision, high-throughput platform in 1485 consecutive patients with cardiovascular conditions (median age 69 years [Q1, Q3 60, 78]; 60% male).