398 results match your criteria: "Heart Rhythm Management Centre[Affiliation]"

Long-term effectiveness and safety of edoxaban in patients with atrial fibrillation: 4-year data from the ETNA-AF-Europe study.

Int J Cardiol

August 2024

Chair of Cardiology, University of Pisa, and Cardiology Division, Pisa University Hospital, 56124 Pisa, Italy; and Fondazione VillaSerena per la Ricerca, Città Sant'Angelo, Pescara, Italy. Electronic address:

Background: To assess long-term effectiveness and safety of edoxaban in Europe.

Methods And Results: ETNA-AF-Europe, a prospective, multinational, multi-centre, post-authorisation, observational study was conducted in agreement with the European Medicines Agency. The primary and secondary objectives assessed real-world safety (including bleeding and deaths) and effectiveness (including stroke, systemic embolic events and clinical edoxaban use), respectively.

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Advancing Surgical Arrhythmia Ablation: Novel Insights on 3D Printing Applications and Two Biocompatible Materials.

Biomedicines

April 2024

Heart Rhythm Management Centre, Postgraduate Program in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing, European Reference Networks Guard-Heart, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.

To date, studies assessing the safety profile of 3D printing materials for application in cardiac ablation are sparse. Our aim is to evaluate the safety and feasibility of two biocompatible 3D printing materials, investigating their potential use for intra-procedural guides to navigate surgical cardiac arrhythmia ablation. Herein, we 3D printed various prototypes in varying thicknesses (0.

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Surgical Coronary Revascularization in Patients With Underlying Atrial Fibrillation: State-of-the-Art Review.

Mayo Clin Proc

June 2024

Clinical Department of Cardiac Surgery and Transplantology, National Medical Institute of the Ministry of Interior and Administration, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw, Poland; Thoracic Research Centre, Collegium Medicum Nicolaus Copernicus University, Innovative Medical Forum, Bydgoszcz, Poland; Department for the Treatment and Study of Cardiothoracic Diseases and Cardiothoracic Transplantation, IRCCS-ISMETT, Palermo, Italy; Cardio-Thoracic Surgery Department, Heart and Vascular Centre, Maastricht University Medical Centre and Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht, the Netherlands. Electronic address:

The number of individuals referred for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with preoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) is reported to be 8% to 20%. Atrial fibrillation is a known marker of high-risk patients as it was repeatedly found to negatively influence survival. Therefore, when performing surgical revascularization, consideration should be given to the concomitant treatment of the arrhythmia, the clinical consequences of the arrhythmia itself, and the selection of adequate surgical techniques.

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SCN5A gene variants and arrhythmic risk in Brugada syndrome: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

Heart Rhythm

October 2024

Heart Rhythm Management Centre, Postgraduate Program in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel-Vrije Universiteit Brussel, European Reference Networks Guard-Heart, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address:

Article Synopsis
  • A rare gene variant in SCN5A is present in about 20%-25% of patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS), impacting their clinical outcomes.
  • A systematic review of 17 studies with 3568 BrS patients revealed that those with SCN5A variants have worse clinical features, such as more frequent syncope and abnormal ECG readings.
  • The analysis showed that patients with the SCN5A variant had a doubled risk of major arrhythmic events compared to those without the variant.
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Malignant Purkinje Ectopy Induced by Atrial Fibrillation.

JACC Clin Electrophysiol

June 2024

IHU LIRYC, Electrophysiology and Heart Modeling Institute, Bordeaux, France; Cardiac Arrhythmia Department, Bordeaux University Hospital, INSERM, Bordeaux, France.

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Seismocardiography (SCG), a method for measuring heart-induced chest vibrations, is gaining attention as a non-invasive, accessible, and cost-effective approach for cardiac pathologies, diagnosis, and monitoring. This study explores the integration of SCG acquired through smartphone technology by assessing the accuracy of metrics derived from smartphone recordings and their consistency when performed by patients. Therefore, we assessed smartphone-derived SCG's reliability in computing median kinetic energy parameters per record in 220 patients with various cardiovascular conditions.

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Sudden cardiac death (SCD) accounts for a substantial proportion of mortality in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), frequently triggered by ventricular arrhythmias (VA). This review aims to analyze the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying VA and SCD in HFrEF and evaluate the effectiveness of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) in reducing SCD. Beta-blockers, angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists have shown significant efficacy in reducing SCD risk.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pericarditis is a common complication after hybrid sinus node-sparing ablation for inappropriate sinus tachycardia (IST) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).
  • The study aimed to assess whether prophylactic therapy with acetylsalicylic acid and colchicine reduced the risk of symptomatic pericarditis after the procedure.
  • Results showed that patients receiving prophylaxis had a significantly lower incidence of symptomatic pericarditis (81.9% vs 47.2%) and few complications related to pericarditis, indicating prophylaxis is beneficial.
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Background And Aims: Available data on continuous rhythm monitoring by implantable loop recorders (ILRs) in patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS) are scarce. The aim of this multi-centre study was to evaluate the diagnostic yield and clinical implication of a continuous rhythm monitoring strategy by ILRs in a large cohort of BrS patients and to assess the precise arrhythmic cause of syncopal episodes.

Methods: A total of 370 patients with BrS and ILRs (mean age 43.

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Genetic Testing in Brugada Syndrome: A 30-Year Experience.

Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol

April 2024

Heart Rhythm Management Centre, Postgraduate Program in Cardiac Electrophysiology & Pacing, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel - Vrije Universiteit Brussel, European Reference Networks Guard-Heart (L.P., A.B., A.G., A. Sorgente, C.M., D.G.D.R., A.D.M., A.S., J.M., M.A.H., V.M., S.M., G.V., G. Paparella, R.R., I.O., G.B., A.A., E.S., G. Pappaert, J.S., A. Sarkozy, P.B., G.B.C., C.d.A.).

Article Synopsis
  • - The study examined 500 patients with Brugada syndrome (BrS) to evaluate the genetic variants' presence and their relation to prognosis, discovering that about 20.8% had pathogenic variants in the SCN5A gene, which indicate a worse outcome.
  • - Of the patients analyzed, 75 were found to have a gene variant, with the majority being missense variants; however, those without any genetic variants showed better protection against ventricular arrhythmias (VA).
  • - The findings concluded that carrying a predicted loss of function variant—either in the SCN5A gene or other related genes—was a significant factor in predicting the likelihood of experiencing VA.
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Adding electroanatomical left atrial (LA) voltage mapping to cryoballoon ablation (CBA) improves validation of acute pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). To determine whether the addition of mapping can improve outcome and PVI durability. One-year outcome and PV reconnection (PVR) rate at first repeat ablation were studied in 400 AF patients in a propensity-matched analysis (age, AF type, CHADS-VASc score) between Achieve catheter-guided CBA with additional EnSite LA voltage maps performed pre- and post-CBA (mapping group; N = 200) and CT- and Achieve catheter-guided CBA (control group; N = 200).

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Article Synopsis
  • PFA can cause vagal responses during pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), particularly when starting ablation at the left superior pulmonary vein (LSPV).
  • Anterior-right ganglionated plexi modulation may help reduce these vagal responses by targeting the right superior pulmonary vein (RSPV) first.
  • The study showed that initiating PVI with the RSPV resulted in significantly fewer vagal responses compared to starting with the LSPV.
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Empirical slow pathway ablation in patients with paroxysmal palpitations and pounding in the neck: A 15-year follow-up.

Heart Rhythm

May 2024

Heart Rhythm Management Centre, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Postgraduate Program in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing, European Reference Networks Guard-Heart, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.

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Lower rate of major bleeding in very high risk patients undergoing left atrial appendage occlusion: A propensity score-matched comparison with direct oral anticoagulant.

Heart Rhythm

August 2024

Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St. David's Medical Center, Austin, Texas; Department of Cardiology, MetroHealth Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; Interventional Electrophysiology, Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California.

Article Synopsis
  • Long-term oral anticoagulation is standard for preventing thromboembolic events in patients with atrial fibrillation, but left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) may offer a safe alternative for those with very high stroke risk profiles.
  • This study aimed to compare the safety and effectiveness of LAAO versus direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients with a high CHADS-VASc score (≥ 5), which indicates a higher stroke risk.
  • Results showed that LAAO had a lower incidence of composite cardiovascular events and bleeding compared to DOACs, suggesting it might be a preferable option for high-risk patients.
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Pulsed electric field, cryoballoon, and radiofrequency for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation ablation: a propensity score-matched comparison.

Europace

December 2023

Heart Rhythm Management Centre, Postgraduate Program in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel-Vrije Universiteit Brussel, European Reference Networks Guard-Heart, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Jette, Brussels, Belgium.

Aims: Pulsed field ablation (PFA) has emerged as a novel, non-thermal energy source to selectively ablate cardiac tissue. We describe a multicentre experience on pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) via the pentaspline Farapulse™ PFA system vs. thermal-based technologies in a propensity score-matched population of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • 3D-intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) enhances visualization of the left atrial appendage (LAA) during surgical procedures and leads to a high success rate for LAA occlusions.
  • In a study of 274 patients, 3D-ICE showed better accuracy in sizing the device compared to traditional 2D-ICE, with a 96.3% agreement on the final device size.
  • Both imaging methods provided a similar procedural success rate, but 3D-ICE reduced the need for device recapture and resizing during the procedure.
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Aims: A novel sinus node (SN) sparing hybrid ablation for inappropriate sinus node tachycardia (IST)/postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) has been demonstrated to be an effective and safe therapeutic option in patients with symptomatic drug-resistant IST/POTS. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term rate of redo procedures after hybrid IST ablation and procedural strategy, outcomes and safety of redo procedures.

Methods And Results: All consecutive patients from 2015 to 2023 were prospectively enrolled in the UZ Brussel monocentric IST/POTS registry.

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Background: Catheter ablation has become an established treatment option for premature ventricular complexes (PVCs). The use of fluoroscopy exposes patients and medical staff to potentially harmful stochastic and deterministic effects of ionizing radiations. We sought to analyze procedural outcomes in terms of safety and efficacy using a "zero fluoroscopy" approach for catheter ablation of PVCs.

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Introduction: Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is a common clinical condition in the general population. A subgroup of patients with MVP may experience ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death ("arrhythmic mitral valve prolapse" [AMVP]) but how to stratify arrhythmic risk is still unclear. Our meta-analysis aims to identify predictive factors for arrhythmic risk in patients with MVP.

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Prevention of venous thromboembolism in right heart-sided electrophysiological procedures: results of an European Heart Rhythm Association survey.

Europace

December 2023

Cardioangiologisches Centrum Bethanien (CCB), Medizinische Klinik III, Agaplesion Markus Krankenhaus, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany.

Article Synopsis
  • Limited data on venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk after right-sided electrophysiological (EP) studies and ablations exist, with no guidelines for managing DVT and PE, unlike left-sided procedures.
  • An EHRA survey of 244 participants aimed to assess current anticoagulation practices and VTE prevention during right-sided EP procedures, highlighting that the right femoral vein is the most common access point.
  • Findings revealed that most respondents do not routinely use intravenous heparin or prescribe VTE prophylaxis, with only a minority continuing preventive measures post-discharge, despite some operators reporting instances of DVT and PE in the past year.
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