Clinical experience of pulmonary vein isolation via single transseptal puncture in atrial fibrillation patients: Comprehensive characterization and follow-up.

Background: Atrial fibrillation is the most commonly observed cardiac rhythm disorder. Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is an effective treatment option to maintain sinus rhythm. This study evaluates the safety, efficacy, clinical outcomes and radiation exposures using a standardized single transseptal puncture (STP)-strategy.

[28-year-old male patient with headaches on the left side and facial pain].

A 28-year-old male suffers for two weeks from new-onset very severe headache located on his left temple radiating to his jaw. He also complains about left sided retroorbital pain and chewing aggravated symptoms. In addition, nausea and emesis in the mornings during the past six months were reported.

Challenges and pitfalls during CRT implantation in patients with persistent left superior vena cava.

Background: Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is a rare venous anomaly, affecting 0.3-0.5% of the general population.

Gender-specific differences in comorbidities, in-hospital complications and outcomes in emergency patients with ethanol intoxication with and without multisubstance use.

Aims Of The Study: To analyse gender-specific differences in comorbidities, multisubstance abuse, in-hospital complications, intensive care unit transfers and referrals to psychiatric wards of emergency department patients with ethanol intoxication. Several lines of evidence suggest an influence of gender differences on diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to various diseases.

Methods: Over a period of 7 years, all patients with signs or symptoms of ethanol intoxication and a positive blood ethanol test admitted for the first time to the emergency department of a Swiss regional tertiary referral hospital were prospectively enrolled.

Medical therapy with flecainide and propafenone in atrial fibrillation: Long-term clinical experience in the tertiary care setting.

Background: Flecainide and propafenone are Class Ic antiarrhythmic drugs that block the cardiac fast inwards Na+ current and are used for rhythm control in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, data on long-term clinical efficacy and safety of these drugs in a real-world setting are scarce.

Methods: Patients with AF who received chronic flecainide or propafenone therapy were retrospectively studied from the database of a tertiary care center.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy in the presence of total atrioventricular block reduces long-lasting atrial fibrillation episodes.

Background: There is an ongoing debate on how cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in the presence of total AV block affects atrial fibrillation (AF) episodes and symptoms in patients with AF.

Methods: Seventy-five patients with symptomatic, drug and ablation refractory AF received, irrespective of their left ventricular ejection fraction (EF), either a CRT device and underwent subsequent atrioventricular node (AVN) ablation or already had a total AV block and underwent CRT upgrade. Long-lasting AF episodes (>48 h), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left atrial diameter (LAD), NTproBNP levels, EHRA score, and NYHA class had been monitored on the follow-up.

Myocarditis following COVID-19 vaccine: incidence, presentation, diagnosis, pathophysiology, therapy, and outcomes put into perspective. A clinical consensus document supported by the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the ESC Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases.

Over 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines based on RNA technology, viral vectors, recombinant protein, and inactivated virus have been administered worldwide. Although generally very safe, post-vaccine myocarditis can result from adaptive humoral and cellular, cardiac-specific inflammation within days and weeks of vaccination. Rates of vaccine-associated myocarditis vary by age and sex with the highest rates in males between 12 and 39 years.

Transesophageal Echocardiography-Guided Transseptal Left Atrial Access to Improve Safety in Patients Undergoing Pulmonary Vein Isolation.

Background: Endovascular pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has become an important strategy for rhythm control in patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF). Transseptal access is a critical step of this procedure and can result in potentially life-threatening complications. This retrospective study evaluates the safety of standardized, transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)-guided transseptal access to the left atrium in consecutive patients who underwent PVI.

Microvesicles released from activated CD4 T cells alter microvascular endothelial cell function.

Background: Microvesicles are vesicles shed by plasma membranes following cell activation and apoptosis. The role of lymphocyte-derived microvesicles in endothelial function remains poorly understood.

Methods: CD4 T cells isolated from peripheral blood of healthy human donors were stimulated using anti-CD3/anti-CD28-coated beads.

The Increasing Investment of Real Estate in the Health System-A Comparison between the USA and Europe.

Background: This study aimed to compare property development and increasing investment in real estate by the healthcare system organizations in the USA and Europe. Real estate investments have upsurged in healthcare due to the multiple benefits to patients and medical practitioners.

Methods: The approach of acquiring data was through secondary sources and online questionnaires.

Distinctive characteristics of His bundle potentials in patients with atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia.

Background: His bundle (HB) potentials vary in amplitude and duration in patients with and without slow pathways. The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics of HB potentials and to elucidate whether they can provide clues for identification of slow pathway (SP).

Methods: The present research prospectively studied the electrophysiological findings of 162 patients with symptomatic atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) due to slow-fast or fast-slow type and atrioventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT).

High Incidence of Inappropriate Alarms in Patients with Wearable Cardioverter-Defibrillators: Findings from the Swiss WCD Registry.

Background: The wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) uses surface electrodes to detect arrhythmia before initiating a treatment sequence. However, it is also prone to inappropriate detection due to artefacts.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the alarm burden in patients and its impact on clinical outcomes.

Effusive-Constrictive Pericarditis due to Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome following Tuberculous Pericarditis.

• Tuberculous pericarditis is the most common cause of pericarditis worldwide. • Consider the possibility of TB-IRIS in patients with tuberculous pericarditis. • Corticosteroids might be necessary, but there are several caveats to consider.

Angiotensin II receptor 1 controls profibrotic Wnt/β-catenin signalling in experimental autoimmune myocarditis.

Aims: Angiotensin (Ang) II signalling has been suggested to promote cardiac fibrosis in inflammatory heart diseases; however, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. Using Agtr1a-/- mice with genetic deletion of angiotensin receptor type 1 (ATR1) and the experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) model, we aimed to elucidate the role of Ang II-ATR1 pathway in development of heart-specific autoimmunity and post-inflammatory fibrosis.

Methods And Results: EAM was induced in wild-type (WT) and Agtr1a-/- mice by subcutaneous injections with alpha myosin heavy chain peptide emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant.

Recurrent syncope after a finger injury and induced monomorphic ventricular tachycardia: Really Brugada syndrome?

Brugada syndrome is an arrhythmogenic disease with often fatal outcome in otherwise healthy and young individuals. Anamnesis and ECG are cornerstones in a syncope workup. In our case, a 27-year-old male presented to the emergency department due to recurrent syncope.

Use of the wearable cardioverter-defibrillator - the Swiss experience.

Introduction: Sudden cardiac death caused by malignant arrhythmia can be prevented by the use of defibrillators. Although the wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) can prevent such an event, its role in clinical practice is ill defined. We investigated the use of the WCD in Switzerland with emphasis on prescription rate, therapy adherence and treatment rate.

The adaptor protein c-Cbl-associated protein (CAP) limits pro-inflammatory cytokine expression by inhibiting the NF-κB pathway.

C-Cbl-associated protein (CAP), also known as Sorbin and SH3 domain-containing protein 1 (Sorbs1) or ponsin, an adaptor protein of the insulin-signalling pathway, mediates anti-viral and anti-cytotoxic protection in acute viral heart disease. In the present study we describe a novel protective immuno-modulatory function of CAP in inflammation. Among the three members of the Sorbs family of adapter molecules, which include CAP (Sorbs1), ArgBP2 (Sorbs2), and Vinexin (Sorbs3), CAP consistently down-regulated the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in mouse fibroblasts, cardiomyocytes, and myeloid-derived leukocytes, after Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation.

Haploinsufficient and Mice Are Not Protected from Cardiac Inflammation and Postinflammatory Fibrosis in Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis.

Progressive cardiac fibrosis is a common cause of heart failure. Rho-associated, coiled-coil-containing protein kinases (ROCKs) have been shown to enhance fibrotic processes in the heart and in other organs. In this study, using wild-type, and haploinsufficient mice and mouse model of experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) we addressed the role of ROCK1 and ROCK2 in development of myocarditis and postinflammatory fibrosis.

Sirt6 deletion in bone marrow-derived cells increases atherosclerosis - Central role of macrophage scavenger receptor 1.

Aims: Sirtuin 6 (Sirt6) is a NAD-dependent deacetylase that plays a key role in DNA repair, inflammation and lipid regulation. Sirt6-null mice show severe metabolic defects and accelerated aging. Macrophage-foam cell formation via scavenger receptors is a key step in atherogenesis.

Heart non-specific effector CD4 T cells protect from postinflammatory fibrosis and cardiac dysfunction in experimental autoimmune myocarditis.

Heart-specific CD4 T cells have been implicated in development and progression of myocarditis in mice and in humans. Here, using mouse models of experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) we investigated the role of heart non-specific CD4 T cells in the progression of the disease. Heart non-specific CD4 T cells were obtained from DO11.

Cardiomyocyte-Specific JunD Overexpression Increases Infarct Size following Ischemia/Reperfusion Cardiac Injury by Downregulating Sirt3.

Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in acute myocardial infarction activates several deleterious molecular mechanisms. The transcription factor JunD regulates pathways involved in oxidative stress as well as in cellular proliferation, differentiation, and death. The present study investigated the potential role of JunD as a modulator of myocardial injury pathways in a mouse model of cardiac I/R injury.

Microbiota-derived peptide mimics drive lethal inflammatory cardiomyopathy.

Myocarditis can develop into inflammatory cardiomyopathy through chronic stimulation of myosin heavy chain 6-specific T helper (T)1 and T17 cells. However, mechanisms governing the cardiotoxicity programming of heart-specific T cells have remained elusive. Using a mouse model of spontaneous autoimmune myocarditis, we show that progression of myocarditis to lethal heart disease depends on cardiac myosin-specific T17 cells imprinted in the intestine by a commensal species peptide mimic.

Outcomes during and after the use of the wearable cardioverter-defibrillator in a tertiary-care and a regional hospital in Switzerland.

Introduction: The wearable cardioverter-defibrillator (WCD) has established itself in treatment of potentially life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, when implantation of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is not warranted. Careful patient selection for this therapy is crucial, but unfortunately very little information from randomised controlled trials is available to guide clinical decision-making. Consequently, data from real-world patient registries play a more important role in this context.