In-Hospital Pulmonary Arterial Embolism after Catheter Ablation of Over 45,000 Cardiac Arrhythmias: Individualized Case Analysis of Multicentric Data.

Objective And Background:  Data on incidence of in-hospital pulmonary embolisms (PE) after catheter ablation (CA) are scarce. To gain further insights, we sought to provide new findings through case-based analyses of administrative data.

Methods:  Incidences of PE after CA of supraventricular tachycardias (SVT), atrial fibrillation (AF), atrial flutter (AFlu), and ventricular tachycardias (VT) in three German tertiary centers between 2005 and 2020 were determined and coded by the G-DRG (German Diagnosis Related Groups System) and OPS (German Operation and Procedure Classification) systems.

[Vascular surgery in old people].

The age pyramid in Germany is upside down. According to the Federal Statistical Office this development will continue in the coming years, which presents a challenge for surgeons to surgically treat increasingly more and increasingly older people. Particularly in vascular surgery, which is a surgery of old people, this fact represents a special challenge.

10-year follow-up of interventional electrophysiology: updated German survey during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: This study provides an update of survey-based data providing an overview of interventional electrophysiology over the last decade. Overall infrastructure, procedures, and training opportunities in Germany were assessed.

Methods: By analyzing mandatory quality reports, German cardiology centres performing electrophysiological studies were identified to repeat a questionnaire from 2010 and 2015.

In-hospital mortality and major complications related to radiofrequency catheter ablations of over 10 000 supraventricular arrhythmias from 2005 to 2020: individualized case analysis of multicentric administrative data.

Aims: The incidence of in-hospital post-interventional complications and mortality after ablation of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) vary among the type of procedure and most likely the experience of the centre. As ablation therapy of SVT is progressively being established as first-line therapy, further assessment of post-procedural complication rates is crucial for health care quality.

Methods And Results: We aimed at determining the incidence of in-hospital mortality and bleeding complications from SVT ablations in German high-volume electrophysiological centres between 2005 and 2020.

[Atrial fibrillation].

Atrial fibrillation is frequent and has severe sequelae, such as stroke, cardiovascular death and cardiac insufficiency. These sequelae can be effectively reduced by anticoagulants, a meticulous recognition and treatment of cardiovascular comorbidities and an early rhythm-preserving treatment. Catheter ablation leads to a better preservation of the sinus rhythm and in symptomatic patients to a better quality of life in comparison to treatment with antiarrhythmic agents.

Clopidogrel vs. prasugrel vs. ticagrelor in patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock: a pooled IABP-SHOCK II and CULPRIT-SHOCK trial sub-analysis.

Aims: The aim of this pooled sub-analysis of the Intraaortic Balloon Pump in Cardiogenic Shock II (IABP-SHOCK II) and Culprit Lesion Only PCI versus Multivessel PCI in Cardiogenic Shock (CULPRIT-SHOCK) trial was to compare the clinical outcome of patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock treated either with clopidogrel or the newer, more potent ADP-receptor antagonists prasugrel or ticagrelor.

Methods And Results: For the current analysis the primary endpoint was 1-year mortality and the secondary safety endpoint was moderate or severe bleedings until hospital discharge with respect to three different ADP-receptor antagonists. 856 patients were eligible for analysis.

Sex-Related Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair for Secondary Mitral Regurgitation.

Objectives: The authors sought to assess sex-based differences in characteristics and outcomes of patients undergoing transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair (TMVR) for secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR).

Background: Subgroup analysis from the COAPT (Cardiovascular Outcomes Assessment of the MitraClip Percutaneous Therapy for Heart Failure Patients with Functional Mitral Regurgitation) trial indicated potential sex-related differences in outcomes after TMVR. The impact of sex on results after TMVR in a real-world setting is unknown.

[Update atrial fibrillation: the 2020 ESC guidelines and recent data on early rhythm control].

Atrial fibrillation (AF) can be a significant burden for patients as well as the health care system. Every third 55-year-old will develop AF. Despite improvements of disease management, a significant risk for cardiovascular events remains.

Impact of effective regurgitant orifice area on outcome of secondary mitral regurgitation transcatheter repair.

Objectives: To assess the value of effective regurgitant orifice (ERO) in predicting outcome after edge-to-edge transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) for secondary mitral regurgitation (SMR) and identify the optimal cut-off for patients' selection.

Methods: Using the EuroSMR (European Registry of Transcatheter Repair for Secondary Mitral Regurgitation) registry, that included patients undergoing edge-to-edge TMVR for SMR between November 2008 and January 2019 in 8 experienced European centres, we assessed the optimal ERO threshold associated with mortality in SMR patients undergoing TMVR, and compared characteristics and outcomes of patients according to baseline ERO.

Results: Among 1062 patients with severe SMR and ERO quantification by proximal isovelocity surface area method in the registry, ERO was < 0.

Surrogate based continuous noninvasive blood pressure measurement.

Arterial blood pressure is one of the most often measured vital parameters in clinical practice. State-of-the-art noninvasive ABP measurement technologies have noticeable limitations and are mainly based on uncomfortable techniques of complete or partial arterial occlusion by cuffs. Most commonplace devices provide only intermittent measurements, and continuous systems are bulky and difficult to apply correctly for nonprofessionals.

[Careers in cardiac electrophysiology].

Cardiac electrophysiology has developed into a broad, exciting, and challenging subdiscipline of modern cardiology. The professional opportunities available to electrophysiologists are diverse and offer a wide variety of career goals. The aim of this article is to show young cardiologists what different career paths can look like if they opt for electrophysiology today.

A teenager with CHD and coronavirus disease 2019.

A 16-year-old girl with history of treated congenital mitral valve disease and signs of respiratory infection was admitted to our paediatric cardiology department. She was tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Despite her severe pre-existing cardiac conditions with pulmonary hypertension, atrial arrhythmias and mitral valve stenosis, the infection did not lead to any cardiac or pulmonary deterioration.

[Elective Endovascular Versus Open Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm - Current Long-Term Data].

Four randomized clinical trials prospectively compared endovascular (EVAR) and open repair (OR) of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA): Chronologically these are EVAR 1 (UK), DREAM (Netherlands), OVER (USA) and ACE (France). All of them investigated whether the superior early postoperative outcome of endovascular repair is maintained in the long-term. The longest follow-up data of EVAR 1, with a mean person-years observation (either until death or end of study) of 8 years, clearly question the superiority of EVAR.