Electrical storm (ES) is a life-threatening condition that predicts bad prognosis. Treatment includes antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) and catheter ablation (CA). The present study aims to retrospectively ...compare prognosis in terms of survival and ES recurrence in 52 consecutive patients experiencing a first ES episode.
Patients were admitted from 1995 to 2011 and treated for ES by conservative therapy (pharmacological, 29 patients) or by CA (23 patients), according to the physician's preference and time of occurrence, i.e. conservative treatments were more frequently administered during the first years of the study, as catheter ablation became more frequent as the years passed by. After a median follow-up of 28 months, no differences either in survival (32% vs. 29% P = 0.8) or in ES recurrence (38% in ablated vs. 57% in non-ablated patients, P = 0.29) were observed between groups. Low left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) was the only variable associated with ES recurrence in ablated patients. When including patients with LVEF > 25%, ES recurrence was significantly lower in ablated patients (24 months estimated risk of ES recurrence was 21% vs. 62% in ablated and non-ablated patients, respectively); however, no benefit in survival was observed.
Our data suggest that in most patients, especially those with an LVEF > 25%, catheter ablation following a first ES episode, decreases the risk of ES recurrence, without increasing survival.
Aims
Although patients with syncope and bundle branch block (BBB) are at high risk of developing atrio-ventricular block, syncope may be due to other aetiologies. We performed a prospective, ...observational study of the clinical outcomes of patients with syncope and BBB following a systematic diagnostic approach.
Methods and results
Patients with ≥1 syncope in the last 6 months, with QRS duration ≥120 ms, were prospectively studied following a three-phase diagnostic strategy: Phase I, initial evaluation; Phase II, electrophysiological study (EPS); and Phase III, insertion of an implantable loop recorder (ILR). Overall, 323 patients (left ventricular ejection fraction 56 ± 12%) were studied. The aetiological diagnosis was established in 267 (82.7%) patients (102 at initial evaluation, 113 upon EPS, and 52 upon ILR) with the following aetiologies: bradyarrhythmia (202), carotid sinus syndrome (20), ventricular tachycardia (18), neurally mediated (9), orthostatic hypotension (4), drug-induced (3), secondary to cardiopulmonary disease (2), supraventricular tachycardia (1), bradycardia-tachycardia (1), and non-arrhythmic (7). A pacemaker was implanted in 220 (68.1%), an implantable cardioverter defibrillator in 19 (5.8%), and radiofrequency catheter ablation was performed in 3 patients. Twenty patients (6%) had died at an average follow-up of 19.2 ± 8.2 months.
Conclusion
In patients with syncope, BBB, and mean left ventricular ejection fraction of 56 ± 12%, a systematic diagnostic approach achieves a high rate of aetiological diagnosis and allows to select specific treatment.
This prospective multicentre observational study assessed the efficacy of specific therapy based on implantable loop recorder (ILR) diagnostic observations in patients with recurrent suspected ...neurally mediated syncope (NMS).
Patients with three or more clinically severe syncopal episodes in the last 2 years without significant electrocardiographic and cardiac abnormalities were included. Orthostatic hypotension and carotid sinus syncope were excluded. After ILR implantation, patients were followed until the first documented syncope (Phase I). The ILR documentation of this episode determined the subsequent therapy and commenced Phase II follow-up. Among 392 patients, the 1-year recurrence rate of syncope during Phase I was 33%. One hundred and three patients had a documented episode and entered Phase II: 53 patients received specific therapy 47 a pacemaker because of asystole of a median 11.5 s duration and six anti-tachyarrhythmia therapy (catheter ablation: four, implantable defibrillator: one, anti-arrhythmic drug: one) and the remaining 50 patients did not receive specific therapy. The 1-year recurrence rate in 53 patients assigned to a specific therapy was 10% (burden 0.07 +/- 0.2 episodes per patient/year) compared with 41% (burden 0.83 +/- 1.57 episodes per patient/year) in the patients without specific therapy (80% relative risk reduction for patients, P = 0.002, and 92% for burden, P = 0.002). The 1-year recurrence rate in patients with pacemakers was 5% (burden 0.05 +/- 0.15 episodes per patient/year). Severe trauma secondary to syncope relapse occurred in 2% and mild trauma in 4% of the patients.
A strategy based on early diagnostic ILR application, with therapy delayed until documentation of syncope allows a safe, specific, and effective therapy in patients with NMS.
Because of its episodic behavior, the correlation of spontaneous syncope with an abnormal finding can be considered a reference standard.
We inserted an implantable loop recorder in 111 patients with ...syncope, absence of significant structural heart disease, and a normal ECG; tilt-testing was negative in 82 (isolated syncope) and positive in 29 (tilt-positive). The patients had had >/=3 episodes of syncope in the previous 2 years and were followed up for 3 to 15 months. Results were similar in the isolated syncope group and the tilt-positive group: syncope recurred in 28 (34%) and 10 patients (34%), respectively, and electrocardiographic correlation was found in 24 (23%) and 8 (28%) patients, respectively. The most frequent finding, which was recorded in 46% and 62% of patients, respectively, was one or more prolonged asystolic pauses, mainly due to sinus arrest, preceded for a few minutes by progressive bradycardia or progressive tachycardia-bradycardia. Bradycardia without pauses was observed in 8% and 12% of cases, respectively. The remaining patients had normal sinus rhythm or sinus tachycardia, except for one, who had ectopic atrial tachycardia. In the tilt-positive group, an asystolic syncope was also recorded when the type of response to tilt-testing was vasodepressor or mixed. Presyncopal episodes were never characterized by asystolic pauses; normal sinus rhythm was the most frequent finding.
Homogeneous findings were observed during syncope. In most patients, the likely cause was neurally-mediated, and the most frequent mechanism was a bradycardic reflex. In the other cases, a normal sinus rhythm was frequently recorded. Presyncope was not an accurate surrogate for syncope in establishing a diagnosis.
Abstract
Background
Reflex vasovagal syncope (VVS) is one of the most common causes of syncope and, when recurrent, can have devastating consequences on the quality of life of patients despite ...pharmacological interventions. The closed loop stimulation (CLS) pacing algorithm converts, during an incipient VVS, variations in right intracardiac impedance into heart rate adaptation. The study SPAIN was the first randomized, double-blind trial robustly showing a strong reduction in syncopal recurrence in patients paced with dual-chamber (DDD)-CLS. (NCT01621464).
Purpose
To evaluate whether the differences observed in the SPAIN study regarding syncope burden and time to recurrence translate into improvements on quality of life.
Methods
This study analysed quality of life data from the SPAIN study: a randomized, prospective, double-blind, multicenter trial conducted in 10 Spanish and 1 Canadian centers. Ethics Committee approval was obtained at each participating center. Patients aged ≥40 years, with ≥5 VVS episodes and cardioinhibitory response to head-up tilt testing were included. After implant, patients were randomized 1:1 to active DDD-CLS mode for 12 months followed by sham DDI mode for the remaining 12 months or vice-versa. Quality of life was assessed via the Short Form-36 (SF-36) health survey before randomization (baseline), and at 12- and 24-month follow-up. The change in quality of life during the entire follow-up relative to baseline was compared between each pacing mode (DDD-CLS vs. DDI).
Results
Fifty-four patients were enrolled with a mean age of 56.3±10.6 years and a median of 12 syncopal episodes before randomization. Median SF-36 scores greatly increased from baseline in the DDD-CLS group across the 8 domains, whereas the response was variable in the DDI group. Comparing both pacing algorithms, median SF-36 scores were higher in the DDD-CLS group, with differences reaching statistical significance for “physical role” and “vitality” domains (p-value =0.006 and 0.014, respectively). Pacing sequence or treatment period did not significantly influence the response (p-value >0.05 for all the domains).
Conclusions
We demonstrated the beneficial effect of this physiological pacing algorithm on the quality of life of patients, as evidenced by the improvement in all the domains of the SF-36 when stimulated in DDD-CLS as compared to the sham DDI mode.
...in the tests used to evaluate the aetiology of syncope, it is not possible to measure test sensitivity and specificity, owing to the lack of a reference standard for most of the tests. Because of ...the episodic behaviour of syncope, the opportunity of correlating the spontaneous syncopal episodes with an abnormal finding can be considered as a reference standard. Concerns about the use of the implantable loop recorder Apart from research purposes, ultimately the implantable loop recorder is used to find the most appropriate treatment of arrhythmias which cause syncope. ...its use should be limited to patients with a high probability of arrhythmic syncope in whom the severity, frequency or hazardous nature of the episodes warrants specific treatment.
To assess the clinical presentation and acute management of patients with transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC) in the emergency department (ED).
A multi-centre prospective observational study was ...carried out in 19 Spanish hospitals over 1 month. The patients included were > or =14 years old and were admitted to the ED because of an episode of T-LOC. Questionnaires and corresponding electrocardiograms (ECGs) were reviewed by a Steering Committee (SC) to unify diagnostic criteria, evaluate adherence to guidelines, and diagnose correctly the ECGs. We included 1419 patients (prevalence, 1.14%). ECG was performed in 1335 patients (94%) in the ED: 498 (37.3%) ECGs were classified as abnormal. The positive diagnostic yield ranged from 0% for the chest X-ray to 12% for the orthostatic test. In the ED, 1217 (86%) patients received a final diagnosis of syncope, whereas the remaining 202 (14%) were diagnosed of non-syncopal transient loss of consciousness (NST-LOC). After final review by the SC, 1080 patients (76%) were diagnosed of syncope, whereas 339 (24%) were diagnosed of NST-LOC (P < 0.001). Syncope was diagnosed correctly in 84% of patients. Only 25% of patients with T-LOC were admitted to hospitals.
Adherence to clinical guidelines for syncope management was low; many diagnostic tests were performed with low diagnostic yield. Important differences were observed between syncope diagnoses at the ED and by SC decision.
In patients with syncope and bundle branch block (BBB), syncope is suspected to be attributable to a paroxysmal atrioventricular (AV) block, but little is known of its mechanism when ...electrophysiological study is negative.
We applied an implantable loop recorder in 52 patients with BBB and negative conventional workup. During a follow-up of 3 to 15 months, syncope recurred in 22 patients (42%), the event being documented in 19 patients after a median of 48 days. The most frequent finding, recorded in 17 patients, was one or more prolonged asystolic pause mainly attributable to AV block; the remaining 2 patients had normal sinus rhythm or sinus tachycardia. The onset of the bradycardic episodes was always sudden but was sometimes preceded by ventricular premature beats. The median duration of the arrhythmic event was 47 seconds. An additional 3 patients developed nonsyncopal persistent III-degree AV block, and 2 patients had presyncope attributable to AV block with asystole. No patients suffered injury attributable to syncopal relapse.
In patients with BBB and negative electrophysiological study, most syncopal recurrences have a homogeneous mechanism that is characterized by prolonged asystolic pauses, mainly attributable to sudden-onset paroxysmal AV block.
The nutritional value of cowpea (
Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) meals, as ingredients in diets for
Litopenaeus vannamei, was evaluated. Five experimental meals were prepared in the laboratory: whole raw ...cowpea (WRC), dehulled (DC), cooked (CC), germinated (GC) and extruded (EXC). The crude protein content of WRC (26.1%) increased after germination (29.5%). Carbohydrates ranged from 69.4% to 85.9%. The trypsin inhibitor activity of WRC meal was low (7.52 U/mg dry matter), and was reduced or eliminated by cooking and extrusion. Apparent digestibility of dry matter, protein and carbohydrate of the diet containing whole raw cowpea meal (71.1%, 85.9% and 76.7%, respectively) was similar to the control diet. Cooking and extruding of cowpea significantly increased dry matter, protein and carbohydrate digestibility in the diets. The results suggest that cowpea meals are good sources of nutrients and can be used as ingredients in diets for
L. vannamei.
In patients with syncope and structural heart disease, syncope is suspected to be attributable to a primary cardiac arrhythmia, but little is known of its mechanism when electrophysiologic study is ...unremarkable.
We applied an implantable loop recorder in 35 patients with overt heart disease at risk of ventricular arrhythmia, because these were patients with previous myocardial infarction or cardiomyopathy with depressed ejection fraction or nonsustained ventricular tachycardia in whom an electrophysiologic study was unremarkable. During a follow-up of 3 to 15 months, syncope recurred in 6 patients (17%) after a mean of 6+/-5 months; in 3 patients, the mechanism of syncope was bradycardia with long pauses (sudden-onset AV block in 2 cases and sinus arrest in 1 case); in 1 patient, there was stable sinus tachycardia; and in 2 patients, who had chronic atrial fibrillation, there was an increase in ventricular rate. A total of 23 episodes of presyncope were documented in 8 patients (23%): no rhythm variation or mild tachycardia in 12 cases, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation or atrial tachycardia in 10 cases, and sustained ventricular tachycardia in 1 case. No patient died during the study period nor suffered from injury attributable to syncopal relapse.
The patients with unexplained syncope, structural heart disease, and negative electrophysiologic study had a favorable medium-term outcome with no case of death and a low recurrence rate of syncope without related injury. The mechanism of syncope was heterogeneous, and ventricular tachyarrhythmia was unlikely.
PDF
