Medicalxpress: 9/1/13 Patients with five or more risk factors have the same stroke risk as patients with atrial fibrillation, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today by Dr. Christine Benn Christiansen from Denmark. The study included data on more than 4 million patients from Danish registries over a 10 year period. Dr Benn Christiansen […]
Aug. 31, 2013 — General practitioners (GPs) undertreat women with atrial fibrillation (AF), according to research presented at ESC Congress 2013 today by Dr Pierre Sabouret from France. The analysis of more than 15,000 patients showed that women were undertreated with antithrombotic medications compared to men regardless of their stroke risk and comorbidities. Dr Sabouret said: […]
CIRCEP: August 29, 2013 Background—Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-detected brain lesions are common following left atrial catheter ablation (LACA) for symptomatic atrial fibrillation. The clinical relevance of these acute ischemic lesions is not fully understood, but ablation-related cerebral injury could contribute to cognitive dysfunction. Methods and Results—In the prospective “Mesh Ablator versus Cryoballoon Pulmonary Vein Ablation of […]
Europace: August 27, 2013 The management of atrial fibrillation (AF) has seen marked changes in past years, with the introduction of new oral anticoagulants, new antiarrhythmic drugs, and the emergence of catheter ablation as a common intervention for rhythm control. Furthermore, new technologies enhance our ability to detect AF. Most clinical management decisions in AF patients […]
STROKEAHA: August 27, 2013 Background and Purpose—Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major risk factor for ischemic stroke. This study aims to update the knowledge about AF and associated stroke risk and benefits of anticoagulation. Methods—We extracted data from the hospital, specialized outpatient, and primary healthcare and drug registries in a Swedish region with 1.56 million residents. […]
CIRCEP: August 27, 2013 Background—Identification of critical atrial substrates in nonparoxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) patients failing to respond to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is important. This study investigated the signal characteristics, substrate nature, and ablation results of rotors during AF. Methods and Results—In total 53 patients (age=55±8), 31 with persistent AF and 22 with long-lasting […]
CIRCEP: August 27, 2013 Background—This prospective, multi-center study sought to evaluate the incidence of asymptomatic cerebral embolism (ACE) during ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) using a multi-electrode radiofrequency (MER) system when specific procedural changes were applied. Methods and Results—Sixty subjects (age 60±10 years, 87% paroxysmal, CHADS2 score 0.6±0.7) undergoing AF ablation with a circular MER catheter […]
CIRCOUTCOMES: August 6, 2013 Background—Oral anticoagulation therapy is the primary tool in reducing stroke risk in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation but is underused. Patients nonpersistent with therapy contribute to this underuse. The objective of this study was to compare persistence rates in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients treated with warfarin versus dabigatran as their […]
BMJ Heart : 7/22/13 Background Dabigatran etexilate, a new thrombin inhibitor, has been shown to be comparable to warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, there is a limited body of evidence on the efficacy and safety of using dabigatran among patients undergoing AF catheter ablation. Objective A random effects meta-analysis was performed of controlled trials comparing dabigatran and […]
Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology: July 19, 2013 Importance of Atrial Ischemia Background—Myocardial infarction (MI) is associated with the development of atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to characterize the atrial abnormalities because of MI and determine the role of ischemia to the AF substrate. Methods and Results—Forty-four sheep were studied. MI was induced by occlusion of the […]
