Experience of left atrial appendage closure performed under conscious sedation.

Background: Percutaneous left atrial appendage closure is typically performed with transesophageal echocardiography guidance under general anesthesia. This study was performed to investigate the safety, feasibility, procedural characteristics, and outcomes of performing this procedure under conscious sedation without an anesthetist's support.

Methods: Eleven patients (6 men; mean age 64.

Left ventricular volumes and systolic function after long-term right ventricular pacing may be predicted by paced QRS duration, but not pacing site.

Background: Long-term right ventricular apical (RVA) pacing causes adverse left ventricular (LV) remodelling and clinical outcomes.

Methods: Forty-one patients (19 men, mean age 70.9±14.

Inner lumen mapping catheter-facilitated big cryoballoon treatment for atrial fibrillation shortens procedural duration and fluoroscopic exposure with comparable mid-term efficacy.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate whether the use of a novel inner lumen circular mapping catheter (IMC) can shorten the procedural duration and fluoroscopic exposure of the single transseptal big cryoballoon (CB) pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) procedures in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: This is a prospective non-randomized case-control study. Forty-two patients (28 men, mean age 55.

Utility of a novel pacing guidewire in pre-implantation testing at different left ventricular sites in cardiac resynchronization therapy procedures.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the utility of a novel pacing guidewire in pre-implantation testing of different left ventricular (LV) sites during cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) procedures.

Methods: Ten consecutive patients (8 male, mean age 65.8 ± 4.

Persistent iatrogenic atrial septal defect after pulmonary vein isolation by cryoballoon: an under-recognized complication.

Aims: Iatrogenic atrial septal defect (IASD) has been reported as a complication of transseptal puncture. This study aims to investigate the incidence, echocardiographic characteristics, and clinical outcome of persistent IASD after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) by cryoballoon catheter delivered by a large transseptal sheath.

Methods And Results: Thirteen patients (9 males, mean age 54.

Echocardiographic mapping of left ventricular resynchronization during cardiac resynchronization therapy procedures.

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective electrical therapy for patients with moderate to severe heart failure and cardiac dyssynchrony. This study aimed to investigate the degree of acute left ventricular (LV) resynchronization with biventricular pacing (BVP) at different LV sites and to examine the feasibility of performing transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) to quantify acute LV resynchronization during CRT procedure.

Methods: Fourteen patients with NYHA Class III-IV heart failure, LV ejection fraction < or = 35%, QRS duration > or = 120 ms and septal-lateral delay (SLD) > or = 60 ms on tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), underwent CRT implant.

Cryoablation versus radiofrequency ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia: patient pain perception and operator stress.

Background: Cryoablation (CRYO) is an alternative to radiofrequency (RF) ablation in the treatment of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT). This study aims to evaluate the differences in patient pain perception and operator stress between CRYO and RF ablation in the treatment of AVNRT.

Methods: Patients with supraventricular tachycardia underwent electrophysiology study.

Treatment of atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia by cryoablation with a 6 mm-tip catheter vs. radiofrequency ablation.

Aims: To compare recurrence rate and other procedural characteristics in patients undergoing atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT) treatment with catheter cryoablation (CRYO) delivered by 6 mm-tip catheter or radiofrequency (RF) ablation.

Methods And Results: This is a retrospective case-control study including 80 patients with AVNRT treated with CRYO from March 2002 to June 2008. They were compared with another 80 consecutive patients who underwent RF ablation for AVNRT within the same period.

Impacted left ventricular lead technique in cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Left ventricular (LV) lead dislodgement is a significant problem in cardiac resynchronization therapy and re-operation is required to rectify the situation. In this case report, we describe a new technique to stabilize an LV lead which is prone to dislodgement by impacting an inactive LV lead in the same cardiac vein.

Ketoconazole induced torsades de pointes without concomitant use of QT interval-prolonging drug.

Ketoconazole is not known to be proarrhythmic without concomitant use of QT interval-prolonging drugs. We report a woman with coronary artery disease who developed a markedly prolonged QT interval and torsades de pointes (TdP) after taking ketoconazole for treatment of fungal infection. Her QT interval returned to normal upon withdrawal of ketoconazole.