An expert opinion of the Association of Cardiovascular Interventions and the Working Group on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy of the Polish Cardiac Society related to the place of prasugrel in the prevention of cardiovascular events in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

Based on many randomized clinical trials, it can be concluded that dual antiplatelet therapy is one of the best-studied treatments in the field of cardiovascular medicine. For many years prasugrel and ticagrelor have been preferred inhibitors of the platelet P2Y12 receptor in patients with acute coronary syndromes. These drugs enable faster, stronger, and more consistent inhibition of platelets and lead to better clinical outcomes than clopidogrel.

Left atrial wall dyskinesia assessed during contractile phase as a predictor of atrial fibrillation recurrence after electrical cardioversion performed due to persistent atrial fibrillation.

Direct current cardioversion (DCCV) is one of the basic methods for restoring sinus rhythm (SR) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Left atrial (LA) strain is one of the parameters used to assess the risk of AF recurrence following DCCV. Assessing the strain also allows for the detection of segmental disorders of LA wall contractility, including dispersion or dyskinesia.

Left atrial emptying fraction determined during atrial fibrillation predicts maintenance of sinus rhythm after direct current cardioversion in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.

Echocardiography is the basic imaging technique used to determine the odds of maintaining sinus rhythm (SR) following direct current cardioversion (DCCV) for persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). However, most studies are focused on the echocardiographic parameters obtained during SR resulting from successful DCCV. The aim of this study was to assess the value of the echocardiographic parameters measured before DCCV for the prognosis of SR maintenance after DCCV.

The prognostic value of soluble suppression of tumourigenicity 2 and galectin-3 for sinus rhythm maintenance after cardioversion due to persistent atrial fibrillation in patients with normal left ventricular systolic function.

Aims: Soluble suppression of tumourigenicity 2 (sST2) and galectin-3 are involved in cardiac fibrosis, inflammation, and remodelling. However, the place of sST2 and galectin-3 in predicting the outcomes of electrical cardioversion of atrial fibrillation (AF) is uncertain. We evaluated whether these biomarkers could predict sinus rhythm (SR) maintenance after cardioversion of persistent AF in patients with normal left ventricular systolic function.