Background: Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) commonly coexist with cardiomyopathy. Recently, PVCs have been identified as a possible cause of cardiomyopathy. We developed a PVC-induced cardiomyopathy animal model using a novel premature pacing algorithm to assess timeframe and reversibility of this cardiomyopathy and examine the associated histopathologic abnormalities.
Methods And Results: Thirteen mongrel dogs were implanted with a specially programmed pacemaker capable of simulating ventricular extrasystoles. Animals were randomly assigned to either 12 weeks of bigeminal PVCs (n = 7) or no PVCs (control, n = 6). Continuous 24-hour Holter monitoring corroborated ventricular bigeminy in the PVC group (PVC, 49.8% versus control, < 0.01%; P<0.0001). After 12 weeks, only the PVC group had cardiomyopathy, with a significant reduction in left ventricular ejection fraction (PVC, 39.7 ± 5.4% versus control, 60.7 ± 3.8%; P < 0.0001) and an increase in left ventricular end-systolic dimension (PVC, 33.3 ± 3.5 mm versus control, 23.7 ± 3.6 mm; P < 0.001). Ventricular effective refractory period showed a trend to prolong in the PVC group. PVC-induced cardiomyopathy was resolved within 2 to 4 weeks after discontinuation of PVCs. No inflammation, fibrosis, or changes in apoptosis and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation were observed with PVC-induced cardiomyopathy.
Conclusions: This novel PVC animal model demonstrates that frequent PVCs alone can induce a reversible form of cardiomyopathy in otherwise structurally normal hearts. PVC-induced cardiomyopathy lacks gross histopathologic and mitochondrial abnormalities seen in other canine models of cardiomyopathy.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/CIRCEP.111.962381 | DOI Listing |
JAMA Cardiol
December 2024
Section for Cardiac Electrophysiology, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Importance: Infrequent intraprocedural premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) limit the efficacy of catheter ablation. Intravascular stimulation of sympathetic nerves via vertebral veins (VVs) has been used to activate cardiac sympathetic tone and may promote PVCs.
Objective: To characterize the ability of direct electrical sympathetic stimulation via VVs to induce PVCs at the time of catheter ablation.
Int J Cardiol Congenit Heart Dis
December 2024
Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Background And Aims: The objective of this study was to assess the associations of birth weight with cardiac structure and function in adults with dextro-transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) who underwent the arterial switch operation (ASO).
Methods And Results: Thirty-nine ASO patients (age 24.4 ± 3.
Int J Cardiol Congenit Heart Dis
September 2024
First Cardiology Department, AHEPA University Hospital, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Pulmonary arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease marked by significant morbidity and mortality due to pulmonary vasculopathy and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. Despite advances in PAH medical therapies which have improved clinical outcomes and survival, patients continue to face severe complications, including a notable incidence of sudden cardiac death (SCD). The high arrhythmic burden, coupled with mechanical complications such as left main compression syndrome, pulmonary artery dissection, rupture, and severe hemoptysis, significantly contribute to the risk of SCD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Flecainide and other class-Ic antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) are widely used in Andersen-Tawil syndrome type 1 (ATS1) patients. However, class-Ic drugs might be proarrhythmic in some cases. We investigated the molecular mechanisms of class-I AADs proarrhythmia and whether they might increase the risk of death in ATS1 patients with structurally normal hearts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the early stages of atrial fibrillation (AF), most cases are paroxysmal (pAF), making identification only possible with continuous and prolonged monitoring. With the advent of wearables, smartwatches equipped with photoplethysmographic (PPG) sensors are an ideal approach for continuous monitoring of pAF. There have been numerous studies demonstrating successful capture of pAF events, especially using deep learning.
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