We sought to demonstrate the impact of improved peak exercise oxygen consumption (V̇O
) during maximal exercise testing after cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on the incidence of arrhythmias in patients ...with heart failure (HF). The present study comprised of 220 patients with HF, and peak V̇O
was examined at 2 and 5 months after CR. Of the 220 patients, 110 (50%) had a low peak V̇O
of < 14 mL/min/kg at 2 months. The peak V̇O
improved in 86 of these 110 (78%) patients at 5 months after CR. During a median follow-up of 6 years, the patients with improvement in peak V̇O
, compared to those without peak V̇O
improvement, had a lower rate of mortality (4% vs. 29%, log-rank, P < 0.001) and HF hospitalization (6 vs. 17%, log-rank, P = 0.044) and a lower incidence of new-onset atrial arrhythmias (9 vs. 27%, log-rank, P = 0.013), with no difference in the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias between groups (1 vs. 4%, log-rank, P = 0.309). The majority of deaths in the patients without an improved peak V̇O
were because of cardiovascular events (73%), particularly progressive HF (55%). Early detection and management of atrial arrhythmias may improve outcomes in patients without peak V̇O
improvement after CR.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
We investigated circulatory dynamics in patients with vasodepressor type neurally mediated syncope (VT-NMS) by performing high-resolution Holter electrocardiography and a correlation analysis of ...changes in adenylate cyclase activity, blood pressure, and pulse during the head-up tilt test. Holter electrocardiography was performed for 30 patients. Adenylate cyclase activity was evaluated in lymphocytes from blood samples taken at rest and during the head-up tilt test. There was no change in autonomic nerve fluctuation during electrocardiography in VT-NMS patients, but our results showed a significant difference in blood pressure and adenylate cyclase activity between VT-NMS patients and healthy volunteers; the systolic blood pressure of VT-NMS patients decreased after 5 min, while at 10 min, the adenylate cyclase activity was the highest (0.53%) and the systolic blood pressure was the lowest (111.8 mm Hg). Pulse rates increased after 10 min. VT-NMS patients showed higher blood pressure, pulse rate, and adenylate cyclase activity during the tilt test than did healthy volunteers. In patients with syncope, standing for longer than 10 minutes may increase the risk of VT-NMS. From our results, we consider it likely that high systolic blood pressure and adenylate cyclase activity at rest cause fainting in VT-NMS patients. Our findings may be helpful for identifying individuals with a high risk of developing NMS in the healthy population.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The study aims to clarify the mechanism in patients with neurally mediated syncope (NMS), focusing on the adenylate cyclase (AC) activity level in lymphocytes. This study included 40 subjects: 22 ...healthy volunteers and 18 NMS patients. We investigated the changes in AC activity that occur during of syncope at rest and during the head-up tilt (HUT) test. We obtained 8 mL of blood at rest time and four times during the HUT test. Then, we measured the AC activity and the test reagent was added to the lymphocytes (10,000) and reacted for 30 min at room temperature. We were able to determine the standard value of AC activity when adrenaline (AD) and isoproterenol (IP) were added to lymphocytes. The results of our study showed one of the causes of NMS has a difference in AC activity level and classification of the patients into two different types of NMS was possible: either the vasodepressor type (VT) or mixed type (MT). At rest time, VT patients showed significantly higher AC activity (AD; 100 μM: p = 0.005, IP; 50 μM: p = 0.02) and MT patients showed significantly lower AC activity (AD; 10 μM: p = 0.02, IP; 50 μM: p = 0.004) than the average AC activity in healthy volunteers. Moreover, VT patients had significantly higher AC activity than healthy volunteers at the four points of the HUT test. MT patients had significantly lower AC activity (AD: p = 0.04 and IP: p = 0.04) than healthy volunteers at the rest time of HUT. Our study showed a significant difference in AC activities between NMS patients and healthy volunteers at rest. Therefore, a detailed NMS diagnosis can be made by examining AC activity levels in blood taken at rest time.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
A novel mapping algorithm utilizing vectors and global patterns of propagation (Coherent™, Biosense Webster) has been developed to help identify the mechanism of atrial tachycardia (AT). We aimed to ...determine the diagnostic accuracy of coherent mapping compared with that of ripple mapping.
This study included 41 consecutive patients with 84 ATs (47 reentrant and 37 focal ATs). Two independent electrophysiologists confirmed the diagnoses using coherent mapping before the ripple map-guided ablation. AT termination was achieved in 75 of 84 ATs (89%) at first ablation lesion set. Four of the remaining nine ATs, which were terminated before an index radiofrequency (RF) application, were non-inducible after RF delivery at the first lesion set, whereas the other five ATs were terminated at the second lesion set. Diagnostic agreement between coherent and ripple maps was achieved in 51 of 84 ATs (61%): 28 of the 47 macroreentrant ATs (60%) and 23 of the 37 focal ATs (62%; P = 0.826). In typical macroreentrant ATs, including left atrial roof, perimitral, and cavotricuspid isthmus-dependent ATs, coherent maps achieved diagnostic agreement in 23 of 29 ATs (79%), which was higher than that in other ATs (51%, P = 0.018): 13 of 26 macroreentrant ATs (50%) and 15 of 29 focal ATs (52%, P = 1.000).
Ripple map-guided AT ablation achieved a high termination rate in the first lesion set. Coherent mapping yielded a favorable diagnostic accuracy for typical macroreentrant ATs, though its value for diagnosing other ATs was limited.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Syncope is commonly encountered in daily clinical practice. Depending on its etiology (benign or life-threatening conditions or environmental triggers), syncope can be neurally mediated (reflex), ...cardiac, or orthostatic. Furthermore, neurologic disease can cause symptoms that mimic syncope. However, there is limited research on neurally mediated syncope (NMS), which is considered a benign disorder, and close follow-ups are rarely performed. NMS can cause serious clinical events, including severe trauma and car accidents. The head-up tilt test (HUTT) is the gold standard for diagnosing NMS; however, its clinical significance remains unknown, and its relevance to NMS prognosis requires further research. This retrospective study aimed to assess the clinical significance of the HUTT for NMS. We reviewed the charts of 101 patients who underwent HUTT at Tokai University Hospital in Japan between January 2016 and March 2019. During the HUTT, 72 patients (69.2%) experienced syncope. Patients were followed up for 886.1 ± 457.7 days (interquartile range: 518–1293 days). The syncope recurrence rate was 16.9%; however, no significant difference was observed between the two groups (HUTT positive vs. negative) (13.8% vs. 18.1%, p = 0.772). Four of 29 (13.9%) and two of 72 (2.8%) patients in the negative and positive HUTT groups, respectively, experienced cardiac events (p = 0.019). Negative HUTT results may assist in anticipating unexpected clinical events within a few years. A negative HUTT result may allow us to reconsider the NMS diagnosis based on clinical information. Close outpatient follow-up of patients with negative HUTT results is warranted.
Neurally mediated syncope (NMS) is associated with a sudden loss of consciousness. However, the diagnostic tools and measures for prognosis management are limited. To overcome these limitations, the ...differences in the binding energies of Giα-protein-coupled receptors to the Glu9 and Glu12 residues on the α2B-AR gene were elucidated through the analysis of α2B-AR gene polymorphism. The suppression of the activity of adenylate cyclase (AC), which is involved in vasoconstriction, may be related to the onset of NMS. The head-up tilt (HUT) test results indicated differences in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and AC activity between patients with vasodepressor (VT)-NMS and healthy volunteers. Patients with VT-NMS had increased AC activity and decreased SBP. Conversely, in healthy volunteers, no changes in AC activity or SBP were found. These findings suggest that a high SBP and elevated AC activity at rest are likely to cause syncope. A high incidence of cardiovascular events is found in patients with negative HUT test results, highlighting the importance of investigating the cause of syncope in cases where the HUT test results are negative. Overall, our results may provide a means of assessing the risk of NMS development within healthy populations and underscore the importance of subsequent treatments for NMS.
We previously reported that LP positive patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) had higher rate of re-hospitalization in the small-scale study (135 patients). In this study, we ...evaluated correlation between LP and later cardiac events leading to re-hospitalization more extensively in greater population.
A 24-h high-resolution (HR) ambulatory electrocardiogram (ECG) was performed in 421 patients that received PCI for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) within 30 days. Various baseline characteristics and post-PCI ECG parameters including LP were examined for correlation with later re-hospitalization. LP was evaluated based on 3 different conditions, i.e., the worst, mean and best values, from 24-h signal-averaged QRS wave data. During the post-PCI follow-up period (611 ± 489.0 days), 90 patients were re-hospitalized due to cardiac events. Multivariate analysis identified only positive LP based on the worst value as an independent predictor for re-hospitalization with OR 2.26. Most of re-hospitalization cases (>75%) were predominantly attributed to ischemic events. LP positive population had significantly higher incidences of ischemic events as well as overall re-hospitalization compared to LP negative population. The predictive power of LP was decreased when it was combined with other variables. The receiver operating characteristic analysis determined the LP cut-off values consistent with the LP positive criteria previously reported and standardized.
The presence of LP in the 24-h HR ambulatory ECG post-PCI was an independent predictor for a risk of re-hospitalization due to ischemic cardiac events in ACS patients.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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