BACKGROUND The aim of the publication is to show differences among patients with the first detected episode of atrial fibrillation (AF), paroxysmal, and persistent AF patients, for whom cardioversion was planned in the hospital setting in Poland. METHODS We present an analysis of the Polish cohort of the multicenter, multinational RHYTHM-AF registry. Consecutive patients in the hospital setti...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) and vascular disease share several risk factors and the two diseases often coexist. Heart rate (HR) is reported to be a major determinant of arterial stiffness. AF patients often have a transiently or persistently rapid HR. Hence, this study was to assess whether AF was significantly associated with arterial stiffness and HR could significantly influence the ...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is accompanied by re-expression of fetal genes and activation of proteolytic enzymes. In this study both aspects were addressed with respect to troponin I (TnI) isoform expression. METHODS AND RESULTS Western blotting and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were used to study TnI isoform expression in patients with paroxysmal or chroni...

INTRODUCTION Uric acid is a cardiovascular risk marker associated with oxidative stress and inflammation. Recently, atrial fibrillation (AF) has been associated with inflammation and oxidative stress. We therefore investigated the association between AF and uric acid levels. METHODS Consecutive patients with AF and healthy control subjects were screened. Demographic, clinical, and echocardiog...

PURPOSE The aims of this study were to estimate the incidence of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter (AF), to assess the presence of provoking factors and risk factors for stroke and systemic embolism, and to determine the type of AF in patients with first-diagnosed AF. PATIENTS AND METHODS This cohort study was performed in northern Sweden between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2012. Di...

BACKGROUND Two types of myocardia can be observed through the endocardial spectral mapping (SM) in sinus rhythm: the compact type with a smooth spectrum and the fibrillar type with a segmented spectrum (atrial fibrillation nests). During the atrial fibrillation (AF), the compact type has an organized activation and low frequency (passive), whereas the fibrillar type has a rather disorganized ac...

OBJECTIVES Surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is an established therapy for the treatment of concomitant AF in cardiac surgery patients. We aim to present our prospective experience with 99 continuously monitored patients and investigate whether enhanced monitoring can identify patterns and factors influencing AF recurrence after surgical AF ablation. METHODS Ninety-nine patients ...

BACKGROUND Once atrial fibrillation (AF) progresses to sustained forms, adverse outcomes increase and treatment success rates decrease. Therefore, identification of risk factors predisposing to persistence of AF may have a significant impact on AF morbidity. METHODS AND RESULTS We prospectively examined the differential associations between traditional, lifestyle, and biomarker AF risk factor...

BACKGROUND Zinc deficiency has been well documented in alcoholic liver disease. OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to determine whether dietary zinc supplementation provides beneficial effects in treating alcohol-induced gut leakiness and endotoxemia. METHODS Male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 3 groups and pair-fed (PF) Lieber-DeCarli liquid diet for 8 wk: 1) control (PF); 2) alcoh...