The Rogue P-wave: Atrial Dissociation Following Bicaval Heart Transplantation.

We report the first case, to our knowledge, of atrial dissociation in a patient who underwent bicaval orthotopic heart transplantation. It was believed that atrioventricular dissociation prompting pacemaker implantation likely represented donor sinus bradycardia/arrest with intact atrioventricular conduction with surgically isolated recipient atrial activity.

Liver Disease as a Predictor of New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation.

Background Impact of liver disease on development of atrial fibrillation ( AF ) is unclear. The purpose of the study was to evaluate prevalence of AF in the setting of liver disease and whether increasing severity of liver disease, using Model for End-Stage Liver Disease ( MELD ), is independently associated with increased risk of AF . Methods and Results Retrospective data analysis of 1727 patients with liver disease evaluated for liver transplantation between 2006 and 2015 was performed, and patient characteristics were analyzed from billing codes and review of medical records.

Permanent His Bundle Pacing for Cardiac Resynchronization.

His bundle pacing (HBP) has been shown to be a feasible, beneficial, and safe way to achieve cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) with recruitment of the heart's physiological conduction system. HBP should be considered for those with unfavorable coronary sinus (CS) anatomy, and nonresponders to biventricular (BiV) pacing. HBP CRT may also help patients with the nonleft bundle branch block form of conduction delay and heart failure (HF).

Cardiac Innervation and the Autonomic Nervous System in Sudden Cardiac Death.

Neural remodeling in the autonomic nervous system contributes to sudden cardiac death. The fabric of cardiac excitability and propagation is controlled by autonomic innervation. Heart disease predisposes to malignant ventricular arrhythmias by causing neural remodeling at the level of the myocardium, the intrinsic cardiac ganglia, extracardiac intrathoracic sympathetic ganglia, extrathoracic ganglia, spinal cord, and the brainstem, as well as the higher centers and the cortex.

Device-based autonomic modulation in arrhythmia patients: the role of vagal nerve stimulation.

Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) has shown promise as an adjunctive therapy for management of cardiac arrhythmias by targeting the cardiac parasympathetic nervous system. VNS has been evaluated in the setting of ischemia-driven ventricular arrhythmias and atrial arrhythmias, as well as a treatment option for heart failure. As better understanding of the complexities of the cardiac autonomic nervous system is obtained, vagal nerve stimulation will likely become a powerful tool in the current cardiovascular therapeutic armamentarium.

Stable integration vector for nutrient broth-based selection of attenuated Listeria monocytogenes strains with recombinant antigen expression.

Recombinant Listeria monocytogenes strains induce strong cellular immune responses and may prove useful for antigen delivery for the vaccination of humans. However, the genetic systems currently available for the stable expression of recombinant antigens by L. monocytogenes rely on the use of antibiotic resistance genes.