OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, a number of clinical studies have been reported in which atrial pacing techniques were used.1Although episodes of atrial fibrillation have previously been noted during atrial pacing studies in man,2 no demonstration of the mode of onset of these arrhythmias has been published. It is the purpose of this communicationi to report the results of a retrospective analysis of ...

INTRODUCTION High thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) causes blockade of sympathetic fibers involved in innervation of the heart (segments T1-T4), which results in changes of cardiac electrophysiology. The anti-arrhythmic effects of TEA on supraventricular arrhythmias, mainly atrial fibrillation, are controversial. THE AIM OF THE STUDY The aim of the study was to assess the influence of epidur...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent arrhythmia in the world, due both to its tenacious treatment resistance, and to the tremendous number of risk factors that set the stage for the atria to fibrillate. Cardiopulmonary, behavioral, and psychological risk factors generate electrical and structural alterations of the atria that promote reentry and wavebreak. These culminate in fibrillat...

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is electrical resynchronization of the ventricles. Bachmann's bundle (BB) pacing is considered to be electrical resynchronization of the atria. Atrial fibrillation (AF) and congestive heart failure (HF) often coexist in the same patient. A 69 year-old man who underwent CRT combined with BB pacing for HF and atrial tachycardias or atrial fibrillation (AF) ...

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to determine if myocytes can die by apoptosis in fibrillating and dilated human atria. BACKGROUND The cellular remodeling that occurs during atrial fibrillation (AF) may reflect a degree of dedifferentiation of the atrial myocardium, a process that may be reversible. METHODS We examined human right atrial myocardium specimens (n = 50) for the pres...

THE QUESTION WHETHER tachyarrhythmias are caused by enhanced impulse formation (“focus”) or by reentrant excitation (“reentry”) has been the subject of debate for more than a century. In 1887 McWilliam (12) was the first to suggest that disturbances in impulse propagation could be responsible for fibrillation, and he clearly envisaged the possibility that myocardial fibers could be reexcited as...

Since Haissaguerre et al first described the pathogenic role of pulmonary vein firing as a crucial mechanism triggering atrial fibrillation, catheter ablation has been recommended as a curative treatment. Several trials have demonstrated that ablation is an effective treatment in most patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and low-grade remodelled atria. In patients with persistent AF, th...

A trial fibrillation is the most common sustained arrhythmia treated by cardiologists and inter-nists, occurring in 0.4% of the general population and in 2% to 4% of those over age 60 years.1'2 Several small studies of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) have shown an incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation ranging from 5% to as high as 40%. Recent large studies by Taylor et a12 and F...

INTRODUCTION Surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation is currently a simple procedure that can be done during cardiac surgery in most patients. A number of different energy sources now available allow to easily create ablation lines in the atria. We describe our experience during the previous three years. PATIENTS AND METHOD In 93 patients with cardiac problems treated with surgery and perman...