BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation and delayed gastric emptying (DGE) are common after pancreaticoduodenectomy. Our aim was to investigate a potential relationship between atrial fibrillation and DGE, which we defined as failure to tolerate a regular diet by the 7(th) postoperative day. METHODS We performed a retrospective chart review of 249 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy at our ...

Background: Although several conditions have been proposed as risk factors contributing to the incidence of atrial fibrillation, many individuals without such 'risk factors' also suffer from atrial fibrillation. The present study tested the hypothesis that the risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation increases with increasing circulating levels of B-type natriuretic peptide in the general populati...

The effect of surgical ablation of atrioventricular accessory pathways on the incidence of atrial fibrillation in patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome was examined and the results of preoperative electrophysiologic testing were studied to determine factors predictive of outcome. Among 50 consecutive surgical cases, 19 patients were identified with a past history of at least one episode ...

BACKGROUND Recent community-based research has linked aortic stiffness to the development of atrial fibrillation. We posit that aortic stiffness contributes to adverse atrial remodeling leading to the persistence of atrial fibrillation following catheter ablation in lone atrial fibrillation patients, despite the absence of apparent structural heart disease. Here, we aim to evaluate aortic stiff...

BACKGROUND Detection of atrial fibrillation after ischemic stroke is challenging due to its paroxysmal nature. We aimed to assess predictors of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation using non-invasive surface ECG and transthoracic echocardiography to select candidates for atrial fibrillation screening. METHODS Ischemic stroke patients without documented atrial fibrillation (n = 110, 67 ± 10 years, 4...

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Surgical treatment is the most effective means of curing atrial fibrillation. The classic Cox maze procedure eliminates atrial fibrillation in more than 90% of patients and has remained the gold standard in surgery for atrial fibrillation. Despite being highly effectiv...

Nine hundred and sixty-nine coronary care patients with acute myocardial infarction were followed for one year. Atrial fibrillation was documented in 107 patients. Compared with patients without atrial fibrillation, those with this arrhythmia were older, had clinically more severe infarction, and had a higher frequency of ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia, and right bundle-branch block. T...

2. Atrial Fibrillation/Flutter: Most common use of Holter in this setting is to diagnose transient atrial fibrillation. There is a unique application of Holter ECG in atrial fibrillation, that is particularly in understanding the relationship to autonomically mediated atrial fibrillation. After the diagnosis has been made Holter is used to assist the efficacy of anti-arrhythmic drugs in suppres...

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained arrhythmia. Because of its potentially serious clinical consequences (heart failure, stroke, and cognitive impairment), atrial fibrillation has important socioeconomic and health implications. This article reviews the major studies on the epidemiology of atrial fibrillation in Spain. Recent data suggest that in people older than 40 years, the pre...

Atrial fibrillation is a very common arrhythmia in patients who need an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) because of life threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation at the time of implantation has been calculated to be as high as 20% and it has been reported that during the lifespan of the ICD more than 50% of patients may develop atrial fibrillat...