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Source: Heart Rhythm
Condition: Heart Failure

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Total 48 results found since Jan 2013.

Relationship between left atrial appendage morphology and stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation
Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important cause of stroke. Given the morbidity and mortality associated with stroke, the risk stratification of patients based on left atrial appendage (LAA) characteristics is of great interest.Objective: To explore the association between LAA morphology and LAA characteristics including the extent of trabeculations, orifice diameter, and length with prevalent stroke in a large cohort of patients with drug refractory AF who underwent AF ablation to develop mechanistic insight regarding the risk of stroke.Methods: An institutional cohort of 1063 patients referred for AF ablation f...
Source: Heart Rhythm - September 27, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Irfan M. Khurram, Jane Dewire, Michael Mager, Farhan Maqbool, Stefan L. Zimmerman, Vadim Zipunnikov, Roy Beinart, Joseph E. Marine, David D. Spragg, Ronald D. Berger, Hiroshi Ashikaga, Saman Nazarian, Hugh Calkins Tags: Atrial Fibrillation Source Type: research

Does atrial fibrillation ablation really reduce stroke rates?
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is increasingly becoming common among older people, and its prevalence is around 1% of the adult population in North America (roughly 2.2 million people). Patients with AF have an increased risk of strokes, heart failure, and subsequent mortality. Although antiarrhythmic drugs for restoring sinus rhythm have failed to reduce these risks, a subanalysis showed that achieving sinus rhythm was associated with halving the mortality but this effect was negated if antiarrhythmic therapy was continued. In fact, the ATHENA (A placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-arm Trial to assess the efficacy of dro...
Source: Heart Rhythm - July 22, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Yasuo Okumura Tags: Editorial Commentary Source Type: research

Patients treated with catheter ablation for ventricular tachycardia after an ICD shock have lower long-term rates of death and heart failure hospitalization than do patients treated with medical management only
Background: Ventricular arrhythmias in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) adversely affect outcomes. Antiarrhythmic approaches to ventricular tachycardia (VT) have variable efficacy and may increase risk of ventricular arrhythmias, worsening cardiomyopathy, and death. Comparatively, VT ablation is an alternative approach that may favorably affect outcomes.Objective: To further explore the effect on long-term outcomes after catheter ablation of VT, we compared patients with history of ICD shocks who did not undergo ablation, patients with a history of ICD shocks that underwent ablation, and patient...
Source: Heart Rhythm - December 12, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: T. Jared Bunch, J. Peter Weiss, Brian G. Crandall, John D. Day, Heidi T. May, Tami L. Bair, Jeffrey S. Osborn, Charles Mallender, Avi Fischer, Kyle J. Brunner, Srijoy Mahapatra Tags: Ventricular Tachycardia Source Type: research

Increasing time between first diagnosis of atrial fibrillation and catheter ablation adversely affects long-term outcomes
Conclusion: Delays in treatment with catheter ablation impact procedural success rates independent of temporal changes to the AF subtype at ablation.
Source: Heart Rhythm - May 22, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: T. Jared Bunch, Heidi T. May, Tami L. Bair, David L. Johnson, J. Peter Weiss, Brian G. Crandall, Jeffrey S. Osborn, Jeffrey L. Anderson, J. Brent Muhlestein, Donald L. Lappe, John D. Day Tags: Clinical Source Type: research

Left atrial appendage closure followed by 6 weeks of antithrombotic therapy: A prospective single-center experience
Conclusions: Implantation of both LAA closure devices can be performed with high success rates in high-risk patients. Postprocedural 6 weeks antithrombotic therapy followed by aspirin therapy needs to be confirmed in a larger study.
Source: Heart Rhythm - August 26, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: KR Julian Chun, Stefano Bordignon, Verena Urban, Laura Perrotta, Daniela Dugo, Alexander Fürnkranz, Bernd Nowak, Boris Schmidt Tags: Clinical Source Type: research

Eastern promises: Additive role of metabolic syndrome for thromboembolic risk stratification in Taiwanese atrial fibrillation patients
The key to prevention of stroke and other thromboembolic (TE) events in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients is effective risk stratification. Several schemes have been developed that use a combination of factors found to be associated with higher occurrence of TE events. Among the various risk stratification schemes, the CHADS2 (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥75 years, diabetes, and prior history of stroke) scoring system is the most popular. Although the simplicity of this scoring system has resulted in its wide adoption, a major criticism has been its inability to consistently identify a truly low-risk grou...
Source: Heart Rhythm - December 6, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Sanjay Dixit, Vinay Kini Tags: Editorial Commentary Source Type: research

Preventing Heart Failure in Atrial Fibrillation: In the Middle of Difficulty Lies Opportunity
Atrial fibrillation increases the risk of several adverse cardiovascular events. While a great deal of attention is focused on the prevention of stroke, relatively little attention is paid to the prevention of heart failure in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) despite the fact that heart failure (HF) complicates AF more often than stroke does. The risk of developing heart failure is 3-4 times greater in patients with AF1 and as many as half of all patients with long-standing persistent AF have HF.
Source: Heart Rhythm - February 22, 2017 Category: Cardiology Authors: Jonathan P. Piccini, Benjamin A. Steinberg Source Type: research

Atrial Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II: A druggable master switch of atrial fibrillation-associated atrial remodeling?
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, with heart failure (HF) and thromboembolism including stroke being the major consequences.1 Thus, stroke prevention with oral anticoagulants is crucial, but highly challenging, for AF management in many patients.2,3 Although our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms promoting AF increased substantially over the years, contemporary approaches using drugs are only moderately effective and have substantial side effects, including proarrhythmia.
Source: Heart Rhythm - February 5, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dobromir Dobrev Tags: Editorial Commentary Source Type: research

MicroRNAs emerging as mediators of remodeling with atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and is now established as an independent risk factor for stroke. Moreover, a concomitant diagnosis of AF greatly complicates treatment for a number of disease processes such as diabetes and congestive heart failure. Given the recognized additional burden that AF places on the health-care system, significant research has been performed in an attempt to delineate mechanisms that contribute to AF initiation as well as progression. Understandably, there is an extensive body of research that has identified abnormalities in ionic channels/electrogenic processes that ...
Source: Heart Rhythm - March 25, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Adam W. Akerman, Rupak Mukherjee Tags: Editorial Commentary Source Type: research

Platelet-derived growth factor: A promising therapeutic target for atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia and is characterized by substantial electrophysiological and structural changes. AF is associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and overall mortality. The risk of developing AF increases with age and with other risk factors such as diabetes and underlying heart disease. Currently, the therapeutic options for the treatment of AF have moderate effectiveness, and side effects, including proarrhythmic events, can often be encountered. The limited effectiveness of antiarrhythmic drugs available for the management of AF is especially proble...
Source: Heart Rhythm - April 8, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: Céline Fiset Tags: Editorial Commentary Source Type: research

The funny and not-so-funny effects of dronedarone
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common supraventricular tachycardia, affecting over 2 million patients, and is associated with 100,000 new strokes per year. Data from large, long-term epidemiologic studies such as the Framingham Heart Study show a strong link between AF, stroke, congestive heart failure, and mortality. In addition, the expected rise in the elderly population in Western countries will cause an increase in the clinical burden of AF. Historically, AF has been treated by pharmacological rate and/or rhythm control in combination with chronic oral anticoagulation medication to reduce the risk of embolic phe...
Source: Heart Rhythm - August 26, 2013 Category: Cardiology Authors: David S. Park, Gregory E. Morley Tags: Editorial Commentary Source Type: research

A formidable “TASK”: Tipping the balance in favor of rhythm control for the management of atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major public health epidemic that increases the risk of stroke and heart failure.1 Therapeutic approaches for AF include ablation techniques and pharmacologic agents. The goal of the former strategy is to convert AF by burning or freezing foci of arrhythmogenic triggers or imposing anatomical barriers that disrupt the reentrant circuits that maintain AF. An alternative to ablation is the use of pharmacologic strategies that are either curative (when AF is amenable to conversion) or ameliorative (when it is not).
Source: Heart Rhythm - July 17, 2014 Category: Cardiology Authors: Fadi G. Akar Source Type: research