Catheter ablation is less successful for persistent atrial fibrillation than for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Guidelines suggest that adjuvant substrate modification in addition to pulmonary-vein ...isolation is required in persistent atrial fibrillation.
We randomly assigned 589 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation in a 1:4:4 ratio to ablation with pulmonary-vein isolation alone (67 patients), pulmonary-vein isolation plus ablation of electrograms showing complex fractionated activity (263 patients), or pulmonary-vein isolation plus additional linear ablation across the left atrial roof and mitral valve isthmus (259 patients). The duration of follow-up was 18 months. The primary end point was freedom from any documented recurrence of atrial fibrillation lasting longer than 30 seconds after a single ablation procedure.
Procedure time was significantly shorter for pulmonary-vein isolation alone than for the other two procedures (P<0.001). After 18 months, 59% of patients assigned to pulmonary-vein isolation alone were free from recurrent atrial fibrillation, as compared with 49% of patients assigned to pulmonary-vein isolation plus complex electrogram ablation and 46% of patients assigned to pulmonary-vein isolation plus linear ablation (P=0.15). There were also no significant differences among the three groups for the secondary end points, including freedom from atrial fibrillation after two ablation procedures and freedom from any atrial arrhythmia. Complications included tamponade (three patients), stroke or transient ischemic attack (three patients), and atrioesophageal fistula (one patient).
Among patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, we found no reduction in the rate of recurrent atrial fibrillation when either linear ablation or ablation of complex fractionated electrograms was performed in addition to pulmonary-vein isolation. (Funded by St. Jude Medical; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01203748.).
The purpose of this study was to analyze the potential usefulness and clinical relevance of adding left atrial (LA) strain to left atrial volume index (LAVI) in the detection of left ventricular ...diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) in patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF).
Recent studies have suggested that LA strain could be of use in the evaluation of LVDD. However, the potential utility and clinical significance of adding LA strain to LAVI in the detection of LVDD remains uncertain.
Using 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography, we analyzed a population of 517 patients in sinus rhythm at risk for LVDD such as those with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or history of coronary artery disease and preserved LVEF.
In patients with LV diastolic alterations and estimated elevated LV filling pressures, the rate of abnormal LA strain was significantly higher than an abnormal LAVI (62.4% vs. 33.6%, p < 0.01). In line with this, in patients with normal LAVI, high rates of LV diastolic alterations and abnormal LA strain were present (rates 80% and 29.4%, respectively). In agreement with these findings, adding LA strain to LAVI in the current evaluation of LVDD increased significantly the rate of detection of LVDD (relative and absolute increase 73.3% and 9.9%; rate of detection of LVDD: from 13.5% to 23.4%; p < 0.01). Regarding the clinical relevance of these findings, an abnormal LA strain (i.e., <23%) was significantly associated with worse New York Heart Association functional class, even when LAVI was normal. Moreover, in a retrospective post hoc analysis an abnormal LA strain had a significant association with the risk of heart failure hospitalization at 2 years (odds ratio: 6.6 95% confidence interval: 2.6 to 16.6) even adjusting this analysis for age and sex and in patients with normal LAVI.
The findings from this study provide important insights regarding the potential usefulness and clinical relevance of adding LA strain to LAVI in the detection of LVDD in patients with preserved LVEF.
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Case reports and echocardiographic studies suggest that the ergot-derived dopamine agonists pergolide and cabergoline, used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and the restless legs syndrome, may ...increase the risk of cardiac-valve regurgitation.
We used data from the United Kingdom General Practice Research Database to identify a population-based cohort comprising 11,417 subjects 40 to 80 years of age who were prescribed antiparkinsonian drugs between 1988 and 2005. We conducted a nested case-control analysis within this cohort in which each patient with newly diagnosed cardiac-valve regurgitation was matched with up to 25 control subjects from the cohort, according to age, sex, and year of entry into the cohort. Incidence-rate ratios for cardiac-valve regurgitation with the use of different dopamine agonists were estimated by conditional logistic-regression analysis.
Of 31 case patients with newly diagnosed cardiac-valve regurgitation, 6 were currently exposed to pergolide, 6 were currently exposed to cabergoline, and 19 had not been exposed to any dopamine agonist within the previous year. The rate of cardiac-valve regurgitation was increased with current use of pergolide (incidence-rate ratio, 7.1; 95% confidence interval CI, 2.3 to 22.3) and cabergoline (incidence-rate ratio, 4.9; 95% CI, 1.5 to 15.6), but not with current use of other dopamine agonists.
In this study, use of the dopamine agonists pergolide and cabergoline was associated with an increased risk of newly diagnosed cardiac-valve regurgitation.
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading global cause of mortality. Age is an important covariate whose effect is most easily investigated in a healthy cohort to properly distinguish the former ...from disease-related changes. Traditionally, most of such insights have been drawn from the analysis of electrocardiogram (ECG) feature changes in individuals as they age. However, these features, while informative, may potentially obscure underlying data relationships. In this paper we present the following contributions: (1) We employ a deep-learning model and a tree-based model to analyze ECG data from a robust dataset of healthy individuals across varying ages in both raw signals and ECG feature format. (2) We use explainable AI methods to identify the most discriminative ECG features across age groups.(3) Our analysis with tree-based classifiers reveals age-related declines in inferred breathing rates and identifies notably high SDANN values as indicative of elderly individuals, distinguishing them from younger adults. (4) Furthermore, the deep-learning model underscores the pivotal role of the P-wave in age predictions across all age groups, suggesting potential changes in the distribution of different P-wave types with age. These findings shed new light on age-related ECG changes, offering insights that transcend traditional feature-based approaches.
Background
Cachexia has significant impact on the patients' quality of life and prognosis. It is frequently observed in patients with cancer, especially in advanced stages, but prevalence data for ...the overall population are lacking. Good quality estimates of cancer cachexia in general and for each of the major cancer types would be highly relevant for potential treatment development efforts in this field. Both the USA and European Union (EU) have implemented special clinical development rules for such rare disorders what are called ‘orphan diseases’. The cut‐off level for a disease to be considered an orphan disease in the USA is 200 000 people (0.06% of the population) and EU is 5 per 10 000 people (0.05% of the population).
Methods
For this systematic review, we searched at PubMed (from inception to 31 January 2018) to identify clinical studies that assessed the prevalence of cachexia in cancer patients at risk. Studies reporting the prevalence of either cancer cachexia or wasting disease in the top‐10 cancer types and 4 other selected cancer types known to be particularly commonly complicated by cachexia were included in this analysis (i.e. prostate cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, melanoma, endometrial cancer, thyroid cancer, urinary bladder cancer, non‐hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer, kidney and renal pelvis cancer, head and neck cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, and pancreatic cancer). We calculated the current burden of cancer cachexia, disease by disease, in the USA and in the EU and compared them to the current guidelines for the definition of orphan disease status.
Results
We estimate that in 2014 in the USA, a total of 527 100 patients (16.5 subjects per 10 000 people of the total population), and in 2013 in the EU, a total of 800 300 patients (15.8 subjects per 10 000 people of the total population) suffered from cancer cachexia (of any kind). In the 14 separately analysed cancer types, the prevalence of cancer cachexia in the USA ranged between 11 300 (0.4/10 000, gastric cancer) and 92 000 patients (2.9/10 000, lung cancer) and in the EU between 14 300 (0.3/10 000, melanoma of the skin) and 150 100 (3.0/10 000, colorectal cancer).
Conclusions
The absolute number of patients affected by cancer cachexia in each cancer group is lower than the defined thresholds for orphan diseases in the USA and EU. Cancer cachexia in each subgroup separately should be considered an orphan disease.
Controversy exists about the impact of acute atrial fibrillation (AF) termination and prolongation of atrial fibrillation cycle length (AFCL) during ablation on long-term procedural outcome.
The ...purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of AF termination and AFCL prolongation on freedom from AF in patients from the STAR AF II (Substrate and Trigger Ablation for Reduction of Atrial Fibrillation Trial-Part II) trial.
Acute changes in AFCL and AF termination were collected during the index procedure of the STAR AF II trial and compared to recurrence of AF at 18 months. Recurrence was assessed by ECG, Holter (3, 6, 9, 12, 18 months), and weekly transtelephonic ECG monitoring for 18 months.
AF terminated in 8% of the pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) arm, 45% in the PVI+complex electrogram arm, and 22% of the PVI+linear ablation arm (P <.001), but freedom from AF did not differ among the 3 groups (P = .15). Freedom from AF was significantly higher in patients who presented to the laboratory in sinus rhythm (SR) compared to those without AF termination (63% vs 44%, P = .007). Patients with AF termination had an intermediate outcome (53%) that was not significantly different from those in SR (P = .84) or those who did not terminate (P = .08). AF termination was a univariable predictor of success (P = .007), but by multivariable analysis, presence of early SR was the strongest predictor of success (hazard ratio 0.67, P = .004). Prolongation of AFCL was not predictive of 18-month freedom from AF.
Acute AF termination and prolongation in AFCL did not consistently predict 18-month freedom from AF. Presence of SR before or early during the ablation was the strongest predictor of better outcome.
Screening for depression in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) remains controversial. There is limited data on the actual depression management need in routine care. The aim of this study was ...to examine the prevalence, treatment rates, prognosis, and management need of clinical and subclinical depression in CHD patients according to the American Heart Association recommendations and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline "Depression in Adults with a Chronic Physical Health Problem".
Patients were recruited at 2 German university clinics between 2012 and 2014. Depressive disorders were assessed according to the DSM-IV and depressive symptom severity at baseline and during follow-up was evaluated with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Depression management need was determined by the severity and longitudinal course of depression symptoms.
Of 1,024 patients (19% women), 12% had clinical depression (depressive disorder) and 45% had subclinical depression (PHQ-9 score ≥5) at baseline. Among those with clinical depression, 46% were in treatment at least once during 12 months; 26% were continuously in treatment during follow-up. Depressive disorder and depressive symptoms were significant risk factor-adjusted predictors of the 12-months mortality (adjusted HR = 3.19; 95% CI 1.32-7.69, and adjusted HR = 1.09; 95% CI 1.02-1.16, respectively). Depressive symptoms persisted in 85% of the clinically depressed and in 47% of the subclinically depressed patients. According to current recommendations, 29% of all CHD patients would require depression management within 1 year.
There is a need for enhanced recognition, referral, and continuous and improved clinical management of depression in CHD patients.
Data on the epidemiology of atrial fibrillation (AF) and its antithrombotic management in elderly populations are scarce. The aims of this study were to estimate the incidence and prevalence of AF in ...the elderly in Germany and to describe antithrombotic management of AF cases.
Estimation of prevalence and incidence was based on data of three German statutory health insurances, which insured more than 800 000 people aged 65 years and older in the study period. The 1-year period prevalence of AF was estimated for each of the years 2004-2007. The incidence rate of AF in 2007 was assessed in patients with a preceding continuous 3-year insurance period without diagnoses of AF. Antithrombotic management of AF was described among incident AF cases in 2008 and predictors for lack of prescriptions of oral anticoagulants were identified. Age-standardized period prevalence of AF among those 65 years or older was 7.7% in 2004, 9.4% in 2005, 9.8% in 2006, and 10.3% in 2007. The age-standardized incidence of AF was 27.4 of 1000 person-years in 2007. Prevalence and incidence increased with age and were higher in men than in women. In 2008, 58.2% of new AF cases received antithrombotic drugs. Treatment was less common among women and older people.
Incidence and prevalence of AF are relatively high in the elderly in Germany. A considerable fraction of new AF cases did not receive antithrombotic drugs in routine care.
Background
A common complication of acute cardiac failure (AHF) is anaemia, which negatively influences the clinical outcome. Causes of anaemia include enhanced eryptosis, a suicidal erythrocyte ...death characterized by cell shrinkage and cell membrane scrambling with phosphatidylserine translocation. Signalling triggering eryptosis include oxidative stress, increase of cytosolic Ca2+‐activity (Ca2+i) and ceramide. The present study explored whether AHF is associated with accelerated eryptosis.
Materials and Methods
Erythrocytes were drawn from healthy volunteers (n = 10) and patients hospitalized for AHF (n = 22). Phosphatidylserine exposure was estimated from annexin‐V‐binding, cell volume from forward scatter, Ca2+i from Fluo3‐fluorescence, ceramide abundance utilizing specific antibodies and reactive oxygen species (ROS) abundance from 2′,7′‐dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA) fluorescence, as determined by flow cytometry.
Results
In AHF‐patients, haemoglobin concentration (11·5 ± 0·5 g/dL), and haematocrit (35·6 ± 1·2%) were significantly lower than haemoglobin concentration (14·1 ± 0·4 g/dL), and haematocrit (40·1 ± 1·0%) in healthy volunteers, even though reticulocyte number was significantly higher in AHF patients (2·3 ± 0·3%) than in healthy volunteers (1·1 ± 0·2%). The percentage of erythrocytes exposing phosphatidylserine was significantly higher in AHF patients (1·8 ± 0·1%) than in healthy volunteers (1·2 ± 0·2%). The forward scatter was significantly lower and the ROS abundance significantly larger in AHF patients than in healthy volunteers. In erythrocytes drawn from healthy volunteers, phosphatidylserine and ROS abundance was increased to significantly higher values following a 24 h treatment with plasma from AHF patients than with plasma from healthy volunteers.
Conclusion
AHF leads to anaemia despite increased reticulocyte number and at least partially due to enhanced eryptosis. Underlying mechanisms include oxidative stress imposed by a plasma borne component.
The authors hypothesized that in patients with heart failure with normal left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (HFNEF), the same fibrotic processes that affect the subendocardial layer of the left ...ventricle could also alter the subendocardial fibers of the left atrium. Consequently, these fibrotic alterations, together with chronically elevated LV filling pressures, would lead to both systolic and diastolic subendocardial dysfunction of the left atrium (i.e., impaired left atrial LA longitudinal systolic and diastolic function) in patients with HFNEF.
Patients with HFNEF and a control group consisting of asymptomatic patients with LV diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) matched by age, gender, and LV ejection fraction were studied using two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography.
A total of 420 patients were included (119 with HFNEF and 301 with asymptomatic LVDD). LA longitudinal systolic (LA late diastolic strain rate) and diastolic (LA systolic strain and strain rate) function was significantly more impaired in patients with HFNEF (LA late diastolic strain rate, -1.17 ± 0.63 s(-1); LA systolic strain, 19.9 ± 7.3%; LA systolic strain rate, 1.17 ± 0.46 s(-1)) compared with those with asymptomatic LVDD (-1.80 ± 0.70 s(-1), 30.8 ± 11.4%, and 1.67 ± 0.59 s(-1), respectively) (all P values < .0001). On multiple regression analysis, LV global longitudinal systolic strain and diastolic strain rate were the most important independent predictors of LA longitudinal systolic and diastolic function, in contrast to noninvasive LV filling pressures (i.e., mitral E/e' average septal-lateral ratio), which were modestly related to LA longitudinal systolic and diastolic function. Furthermore, in patients with HFNEF, the subendocardial function of both the left atrium and the left ventricle was significantly impaired in high proportions. In that regard, in patients with HFNEF, the rate of LA longitudinal systolic and diastolic dysfunction was 65.5% and 28.5%, whereas the prevalence of LV longitudinal systolic and diastolic dysfunction was 81.5% and 58%, respectively. In addition, patients with both systolic and diastolic longitudinal dysfunction of the left atrium presented worse NYHA functional class as compared with those with normal LA longitudinal function.
In patients with HFNEF, LA subendocardial systolic and diastolic dysfunction is common and possibly associated with the same fibrotic processes that affect the subendocardial fibers of the left ventricle and to a lesser extent with elevated LV filling pressures. Furthermore, these findings suggest that LA longitudinal systolic and diastolic dysfunction could be related to reduced functional capacity during effort in patients with HFNEF.
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