Doubt has been cast upon the valvular origin of the first heart sound since the finding of a delay between the cross-over of the ventricular and atrial pressure tracings and the sound attributed to closing ofthe corresponding atrio-ventricular valve. There is a similar delay after the left ventricular pressure falls below that in the left atrium before the occurrence of the opening snap in mitr...

Introduction Holt & Oram (1960) linked various skeletal abnormalities with congenital heart disease in four generations of a family. In particular, malformations of the hands were associated with atrial septal defect (secundum type) and bizarre arrhythmias. In 1961, McKusick described a similar syndrome in a mother and daughter and suggested the term 'atrio-digital dysplasia'. Harris & Osborne ...

Background Regurgitation of the left atrio-ventricular valve (LAVV) is common after atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD) correction and up to 15% of the patients require surgery of the LAVV during follow-up. Reliable quantification of LAVV regurgitation after AVSD correction is essential for indicating surgical correction, but has shown to be difficult using echocardiography. 4DFlow MRI with r...

Two patients with dystrophia myotonica showed high-grade atrio-ventricular block. Both underwent electrophysiological studies which revealed sinus and A-V nodal disease with normal intraventricular conduction in 1 case and His-Purkinje conduction disease in the other. Dystrophia myotonica may, therfore, involve all parts of the cardiac conduction system and may affect the generation of cardiac ...

Acidosis affects the mechanical and electrical activity of mammalian hearts but comparatively little is known about its effects on the function of the atrio-ventricular node (AVN). In this study, the electrical activity of the epicardial surface of the left ventricle of isolated Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts was examined using optical methods. Perfusion with hypercapnic Tyrode's solution (...

Idiopathic paroxysmal atrioventricular (AV) block poses a true diagnostic challenge. What is clear about this entity is the confusion about its definition and consequently about its etiology. According to certain sources, the diagnosis of this block requires the lack of a structural cardiac pathology that justifies the observed manifestations and an absence of electrocardiographic disorders pri...