The presence of left atrial (LA) dysfunction is linked to the development of both heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AF). Hypertensive heart disease is an important contributor to both LA dysfunction and AF, and hypertension is present in between 50% and 90% of patients in AF trials. In the early phases of hypertension, LA conduit function is impaired, and there is compensation by increased...

Two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2D-STE) is an emerging technology for the evaluation of left atrial (LA) function. This technique is feasible, overcomes the limitations of tissue Doppler imaging and has been demonstrated to accurately assess atrial function during the different phases of the cardiac cycle (1). Atrial structural and electrical remodeling are the hallmarks of a...

We present a general information-theoretic argument that all efficient communication systems will be ambiguous, assuming that context is informative about meaning. We also argue that ambiguity allows for greater ease of processing by permitting efficient linguistic units to be re-used. We test predictions of this theory in English, German, and Dutch. Our results and theoretical analysis suggest...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the influence of atrial fibrillation (Af) on the clinical characteristics and rehabilitation outcomes of patients with cerebral infarction. METHODS We evaluated 87 of 101 consecutive patients with cerebral infarction admitted to the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation during their rehabilitation period. The patients were divided into two groups, Af and non...

In chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) left ventricular function may gradually diminish as a result of an intrinsic tachycardiomyopathy. This tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy is characterised by decreased systolic function, ventricular dilation, and raised ventricular filling pressures. In such patients left ventricular systolic function may gradually improve after electrical cardioversion. Litt...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) and reduced pulmonary function. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Eighty-six chronic AF patients who were enrolled from annual health examination programs were studied using echocardiography and pulmonary function tests (PFT). Echocardiography and PFT matched for age, gender, an...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with endothelial dysfunctions. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to assess the influence of the duration of an AF episode on the endothelial function. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study included 65 patients with persistent AF qualified for the percutaneous pulmonary veins isolation. Patients were divided into three subgroups with increasing ti...

Chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) is a complex disease with underlying changes in electrophysiology, calcium signaling and the structure of atrial myocytes. How these individual remodeling targets and their emergent interactions contribute to cell physiology in chronic AF is not well understood. To approach this problem, we performed in silico experiments in a computational model of the human at...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained clinical tachyarrhythmia. AF is a progressive condition as demonstrated by the finding that maintenance of normal rhythm and contractile function becomes more difficult the longer AF exists. AF causes cellular stress, which induces atrial remodelling, involving reduction in the expression of L-type Ca(2+) channels and structural changes (myo...

OBJECTIVES To systematically review the effects of radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) on left atrial (LA) size, volumes and function in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). METHODS We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, Highwire, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the reference lists of retrieved reports in July 2012. SET...