OBJECTIVES This study sought to investigate the relationship between resting ventricular rate and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) who were in sinus rhythm (SR) or atrial fibrillation (AF). BACKGROUND Slower heart rates are associated with better survival in patients with CHF in SR, but it is not clear whether this is...

BACKGROUND Bachmann's bundle (BB) is considered to be the main route of interatrial conduction and to play a role in development of atrial fibrillation (AF). The goals of this study are to characterize the presence of conduction disorders in BB during sinus rhythm and to study their relation with AF. METHODS AND RESULTS High-resolution epicardial mapping (192 unipolar electrodes, interelectro...

BACKGROUND Numerous studies implicate the sinoatrial node (SAN) as a participant in atrial arrhythmias, including atrial flutter (AFL) and atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the direct role of the SAN has never been described. METHODS AND RESULTS The SAN was optically mapped in coronary perfused preparations from normal canine hearts (n=17). Optical action potentials were recorded during spon...

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common and associated with adverse health outcomes. Timely detection of AF can be challenging using traditional diagnostic tools. Smartphone use is increasing and may provide an inexpensive and user-friendly means to diagnoseAF. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that a smartphone-based application could detect an irregular pulse fromAF. METHODS Seventy-...

OBJECTIVES We sought to test the hypothesis that complex fractionated electrograms (CFAEs) recorded during atrial fibrillation (AF) could be used as target sites for catheter ablation of AF. BACKGROUND Mapping of AF in humans has shown that areas of CFAEs correlate with areas of slowed conduction and pivot points of reentrant wavelets. We hypothesized that such areas of CFAEs could be identif...

BACKGROUND The role of subsequent atrial tachycardias (AT) in the context of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) remains undetermined. This study evaluated the prognostic role of subsequent ATs for arrhythmia recurrences after catheter ablation of persistent AF. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 110 patients with persistent AF (63±9 years; 22 women; 61 long-lasting persistent AF) underwent pulmo...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia. Congestive heart failure (CHF), an increasingly frequent cardiovascular disorder affecting millions of people world-wide, has become the most important risk factor of AF in developed countries, as a result of ageing populations. Approximately two thirds of patients with CHF are >65 years of age and likely to have AF as a coexiste...

BACKGROUND Clinical and experimental evidence suggest that the parasympathetic nervous system is involved in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, it is unclear whether changes in G-protein-coupled inward rectifying K(+) current (I(K,ACh)) contribute to chronic AF. METHODS AND RESULTS In the present study, we used electrophysiological recordings and competitive reverse-transc...

BACKGROUND Estimates of atrial fibrillation (AF) burden (AFB) derived from intermittent rhythm monitoring (IRM) are increasingly being used as an outcome measure after therapeutic interventions; however, their accuracy has never been validated. The aim of this study was to compare IRM-derived AFB estimates to the true AFB as measured by implantable continuous monitoring (CM) devices. METHODS ...

AIMS Patients with asymptomatic and undiagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF) are at increased risk of heart failure and ischaemic stroke. In this study, we validated a new diagnostic device, the MyDiagnostick, for detection of AF by general practitioners and patients. It records and stores a Lead I electrocardiogram (ECG) which is automatically analysed for the presence of AF. METHODS AND RESULTS...