OBJECTIVE Recent studies have shown that the pulmonary veins are important in atrial fibrillation (AF). This study evaluated the relationship between total pulmonary vein diameter and postoperative AF in on-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS Our study enrolled 149 patients undergoing on-pump CABG. The primary endpoint was defined as postoperative new-onset...

introduction: retinal vein occlusion  is a common vascular disorder disrupting vision. two basic types of rvo are branch retinal vein occlusion and central retinal vein occlusion (crvo).  retinal vein occlusion is a multifactor process including systemic illness and local retinal factors.rvo may be associated with atherosclerotic risk factors. we analyzed the role of 2 dimensional transthoracic...

INTRODUCTION Pulmonary vein potentials reflect depolarization of muscle fascicles within the myocardial sleeves that surround the pulmonary veins. The response of pulmonary vein potentials to premature stimulation has not been described. METHODS AND RESULTS In 31 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation referred for segmental isolation of the pulmonary veins, programmed stimulation with a...

Coutu, Pierre, Denis Chartier, and Stanley Nattel. Comparison of Ca -handling properties of canine pulmonary vein and left atrial cardiomyocytes. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 291: H2290–H2300, 2006. First published June 23, 2006; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00730.2005.—Cardiac tissue in the pulmonary vein sleeves plays an important role in clinical atrial fibrillation. Mechanisms leading to pulmona...

We compared effects of the antiarrhythmic drug bepridil on the electrophysiological parameters in the isolated pulmonary vein preparation from guinea pigs with those in the left atrium. Three pairs of bipolar electrodes were attached to the left atrium, pulmonary vein and junctional region of left atrium and pulmonary vein to measure intra-atrial and intra-pulmonary vein conduction velocity and...

Pulmonary vein imaging is integral for planning atrial fibrillation ablation procedures. We tested the feasibility of quantifying pulmonary vein ostial diameter using two-dimensional cine cardiac magnetic resonance (2D cine CMR) and three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography (3D MRA). Nine patients with a history of atrial fibrillation and 20 normal volunteers underwent 2D cine CMR and co...