The effect of suppressing sinus rhythm on initiation and maintenance of atrial fibrillation was studied in 17 thoraeotomized and artificially ventilated dogs. Atrial fibrillation was evoked by methacholine chloride applied to the right atrium followed by light mechanical stimulation. Episodes of fibrillation were compared before and after sinus rhythm had been suppressed by injection of absolut...

Recognition that the initiation of atrial fibrillation often is dependent on arrhythmogenic foci within the pulmonary veins1 opened a new chapter in our understanding of the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation, which in turn has led to dramatic improvements in our ability to ablate atrial fibrillation. Based on experimental studies and clinical studies that used a variety of catheter and surgical...

SUMMARY In a series of 135 patients with mitral valvular stenosis, three groups were identified: those in sinus rhythm, those with intermittent atrial fibrillation, and those with longstanding, established atrial fibrillation. Examination of the relationships between atrial fibrillation, hemodynamic findings and radiologic data in mitral stenosis was undertaken. Analysis of clinical and hemodyn...

introduction: amiodarone is an effective drug for life-threatening arrhythmias like recurrent ventricular fibrillation and atrial fibrillation. amiodarone creates rarely genitourinary side effects are seen. these are epididymitis, testicular dysfunction and impotance. amiodarone aggregates and triggers inflammation in the head of the epididym. case report: we present the case of a patient who d...

CONTEXT Atrial fibrillation is a common, but potentially preventable, complication following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. OBJECTIVES To assess the nature and consequences of atrial fibrillation after CABG surgery and to develop a comprehensive risk index that can better identify patients at risk for atrial fibrillation. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Prospective observati...

The mechanisms of atrial fibrillation relate to the presence of random reentry involving multiple interatrial circuits. Triggers for development of atrial fibrillation include rapidly discharging atrial foci (mainly from pulmonary veins) or degeneration of atrial flutter or atrial tachycardia into fibrillation. Therapy for control of atrial fibrillation includes drugs, atrial pacing for those w...

A 62 year old man was admitted for evaluation of recurrent episodes of syncope. A surface ECG showed frequent repetitive premature ventricular complexes of right ventricular outflow tract origin. Ventricular fibrillation was inducible by programmed electrical stimulation but otherwise cardiac evaluation was unremarkable. A diagnosis of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation was made and an implant...

TOKES Adams attacks with loss of consciousness due to a sudden decline in cardiac output usually occurs in patients with complete heart block. The precipitating event is ventricular asystole, ventricular flutter-fibrillation or a combination of both arrhythmias. Ventricular fibrillation may follow a period of asystole, or ventricular fibrillation may precede a period of asystole. Infrequently t...

Ventricular fibrillation can be initiated in the isolated, perfused heart by injections of calcium chloride into the perfusion stream. It can also be initiated by perfusion with a K-free perfusion medium. These are related phenomena since the latter type of fibrillation will not occur if Ca is also removed from the perfusion medium. The mechanism by which Ca initiates fibrillation is unknown. T...

BACKGROUND The goal of the report was to study the long-term incidence and the independent predictors for chronic atrial fibrillation and stroke in 507 paced patients with sick sinus syndrome, adjusting for differences in baseline clinical variables with multivariate analysis. METHODS AND RESULTS From 1980 to 1989, we implanted 376 dual-chamber, 19 atrial, and 112 ventricular pacemakers to tr...