BACKGROUND The relationship between pulmonary vein (PV) anatomy and successful catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) is poorly understood METHODS First-pass contrast enhanced PV magnetic resonance angiography was performed in 71 consecutive patients prior to PV isolation. PV diameter and cross-sectional area (CSA) were measured prior to PV isolation. Any symptomatic or asymptomatic AF...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) has traditionally been described as aperiodic or random. Yet, ongoing sources of high-frequency periodic activity have recently been suggested to underlie AF in the sheep heart. Our objective was to use a combination of optical and bipolar electrode recordings to identify sites of periodic activity during AF and elucidate their mechanism. METHODS AND RESULT...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) can be a risk factor for development of significant tricuspid regurgitation (TR). We investigated which clinical and echocardiographic parameters were related to severity of functional TR in patients with lone AF. METHODS A total of 89 patients with lone AF were enrolled (75 ± 11 years; 48% male): 13 patients with severe TR, 36 patients with moderate TR, an...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an arrhythmia associated with functional and morphological remodeling of atria. We investigated the distribution and the expression of connexins in atrial tissues from patients with chronic AF and left atrial dilatation (AD). METHODS AND RESULTS Immunohistochemistry was performed in atrial tissues obtained during cardiac surgery from patients with chroni...

This paper reports a current GIS research project which is being undertaken in the Tweed area of north coast New South Wales. The project focuses on drainage management problems which are of increasing concern for land and environmental management for the sugar industry in this area. GIS network capabilities are employed with enhancements of specific needs for the drainage simulation. Natural a...

A 20-m-wide trench was excavated to bedrock on a hillslope at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed in the Piedmont region of Georgia to determine the effect of upslope drainage area from the soil and bedrock surfaces on the geochemical evolution of base cation concentrations in subsurface flow. Samples were collected from ten 2-m sections and five natural soil pipes during three winter rainst...

It is suggested that natural language has major structural defects, and is inappropriate as a template for formal and programming languages, and as a basis for deriving models of computation. A novel language system has given rise to promising alternatives to standard formal and processor network models of computation. A textual structure called an interstring is proposed. When linked with an a...

Methods 44 consecutive pts (38±11 years-old, 29 men) with DCM were included, after exclusion of ischemic heart disease (coronary angiography), secondary cardiomyopathies (clinical and laboratory investigation), non-sinus rhythm and contraindications to CMR. Functional class and plasmatic NT-pro-BNP were assessed. All pts underwent CMR: a) short-axis SSFP for left atrial area and left ventricle ...