The cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) survey II is a joint initiative between the European Heart Rhythm Association and the Heart Failure Association. It compiles real world data about cardiac ...resynchronisation therapy in European Society of Cardiology member states. 11 088 patients assigned to implantation of CRT with pacemaker function (CRT-P) or CRT with an incorporated defibrillator (CRT-D) were enrolled in the survey starting 1 October 2015 till 31 December 2016 and for each patient, an electronic case report form (eCRF) was completed. Each participating country had each eCRF data-point benchmarked against the total cohort. In total, 79 patients were included from Latvia. The mean age of patients was 68.1, similar to the total cohort of other ESC member states, and 21.8% of patients were female. Latvian patients compared to other countries more often had permanent atrial fibrillation, NYHA class III and IV, ejection fraction 35 %. CRT-Ds and multipolar lead implantation rates were higher. Peri-procedural complication rates were similarly low in both groups. At discharge, prescribed medication rates were similar but more frequently MRAs, ivabradine and calcium channel blockers were prescribed and slightly less frequently ACE inhibitors/ARBs were prescribed. The CRT survey II is a valuable resource that describes ongoing practice of cardiac resynchronisation therapy around Europe and benchmarking against the total cohort is nationally significant for each participating country.
: Over the last five decades cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) have become established as the mainstay for the treatment of permanent bradycardias, chronic heart failure and dangerous ...heart rhythm disturbances. These devices improve survival and quality of life in many patients. However, infections associated with CIED implantation, particularly lead-related infective endocarditis (LRIE), can offset all benefits and make more harm than good for the patient. To date, there are no other studies in Latvia, addressing patients with lead-related infective endocarditis. The objective of this study was to identify the most common pathogens associated with LRIE and their antimicrobial resistance and to identify possible risk factors of patients who present with LRIE.
The study was performed retrospectively at Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital (PSCUH). The study included patients who were referred to PSCUH due to LRIE for lead extraction. Patients were identified from procedural journals. Information about isolated microorganisms, patient comorbidities and visual diagnostics data was taken from patient records.
Forty-nine patients with CIED related infective endocarditis were included in the study, 34 (69.4%) were male, median age of all patients was 65.0 (50.5-73.0) years, median hospital stay was 15.5 (22.0-30.5) days. Successful and complete lead extraction was achieved in all patients. Thirty-two (65.3%) had received antibiotics prior to blood sample. Only in 31 (63.3%) positive culture results were seen. The most common isolated pathogens were
(23.5%) and coagulase negative staphylococci (23.5%). Other bacteria were isolated considerably less often. The atrial lead was most common location for lead vegetations, seen in 50.0% of cases. Five (10.2%) patients have died due to the disease.
Lead-related infective endocarditis is a major complication of cardiac implantable electronic devices with considerable morbidity and mortality, which in our study was as high as 10.2%.
Acoustic emission (AE) technique is widely used to monitor failure processes in composite materials including development of cracks and plastic deformations within the polymer matrix, fracture and ...debonding of inclusions, etc. In this study, the AE technique was applied investigating failure character of epoxy polymers with different content of nanofiller - fine polyethersulfone (PES) powder. Variation of material properties of the epoxy with 0, 5%, 7.5%, 10%, and 12.5% concentration (by weight) of the PES was assessed experimentally. Correlation between the PES content and the modulus of elasticity was found negligible. The same was characteristic for the tensile strength. Whereas, such a correlation was found significant for the fracture toughness that increased 1.5 times concerning the pure epoxy reference. Analysis of the cumulative AE counts indicated existence of three different stages of the damage accumulation process, which were unidentified using the load and the deformation diagrams. In the PES-modified composites, the damage accumulation process was evidenced at the 10-20% of the ultimate load; whereas, in the pure epoxy, such a process was fairly slow until the 85% of the loading.
The goal of this article is to solve problems of automated monitoring systems of industrial and aviation constructions. Based on the latest research results, the most cost-effective solutions are ...covered, and a practical solution is offered. This article is part of the scientific project “Development of an integrated sensor system for material and structure monitoring”. The article describes the problem and suggests a practical solution for an integrated sensor system for material and structure monitoring prototype.
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