A fter complete diagnostic workup, a quarter of ischemic strokes are regarded as undetermined pathogenesis at discharge with a substantial rate of mortality in some cases. 1 Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is the most frequent occult cause resulting in significant morbidity and costs when is under diagnosed. 2 Recent studies have shown that extending the cardiac monitoring duration with su...

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...

Diet induced obese (DIO) mice display both increased susceptibility to inducible atrial fibrillation (AF) and an overall increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production specific the cytosol mitochondria. NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2), a major source of cytosolic ROS human atria, has been implicated ion channel remodeling leading AF independent obesity is significantly atria DIO mice. Although tre...

P-wave dispersion (PWD, Pd or Pdis) is a noninvasive electrocardiographic (ECG) marker for atrial remodeling and predictor for atrial fibrillation (AF). PWD is defined as the difference between the widest and the narrowest P-wave duration recorded from the 12 ECG leads. Increased P-wave duration and PWD reflect prolongation of intraatrial and interatrial conduction time with lack of a well-coor...

NT-proBNP is produced from both atria and ventricles. The primary regulation of production is at the synthesis level. The plasma half-life of NT-proBNP is 60-120 min. Cutoff value of NT-proBNP for diagnosis of heart failure is 125 pg/ml in the age group below 75 years and 450 pg/ml in the age group above 75 years. It increases in atrial fibrillation and drops after successful cardioversion. Hig...

The efficacy of pirmenol (a class I antiarrhythmic agent) as a converter of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was investigated. Forty patients without congestive heart failure or a history of sinus node disorder were randomly allocated to receive either intravenous pirmenol (50-100 mg) or placebo in a double blind trial. In 12 of 20 patients sinus rhythm was restored 2-16 minutes after pirmenol, a...

ATRIAL fibrillation has long been the intriguing subject of much speculation and investigation. In general, scientific inquiry has been addressed to two major problem areas: First, what abnormal conditions affecting the basic electrophysiologic state of the atria are responsible for the inception and perpetuation of fibrillation? Second, what factors govern the response of the atrioven-tricular...

Despite a vast amount of experimental and clinical data on the underlying ionic, cellular and tissue substrates, the mechanisms of common atrial arrhythmias (such as atrial fibrillation, AF) arising from the functional interactions at the whole atria level remain unclear. Computational modelling provides a quantitative framework for integrating such multi-scale data and understanding the arrhyt...