BACKGROUND Transvenous implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (TV-ICDs) improve survival in patients at risk for sudden cardiac death, but complications remain an important drawback. The subcutaneous ICD (S-ICD) was developed to overcome lead-related complications. Comparison of clinical outcomes of both device types in previous studies was hampered by dissimilar patient characteristics. OBJ...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is an opportunistic pathogen with an exceptional ability to adapt to a range of environments. Part of its adaptive potential is the ability to survive drastic osmolarity changes. Upon a sudden dilution of external medium, such as during exposure to rain, bacteria evade mechanical rupture by engaging tension-activated channels that act as osmolyte release valves. In t...

Demographic shocks convey the idea of a sudden change in those factors, external or exogenous to the demographic system, that affect mortality, fertility, or migration. Famines and epidemics, wars and displacement of people, can be seen as external disturbances to the normal functioning of a demographic system. Malthus renamed them “repressive checks” and made them endogenous to the system—the ...

A 49-year-old man consulted our department 3 months after having several implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks with subsequent syncope. A CRT-D device (Boston Scientific, Cognis 100-D) and a single-element subcutaneous array (Medtronic, model 6996 SQ) had been implanted 2 years previously for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death caused by symptomatic (New York Heart Associat...

In the summer of 1997, when the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston selected the topic for its forty-second annual economic conference, many pundits were asking: “Is the business cycle dead, or at least permanently dampened?” By the time the Bank’s conference convened in June 1998, the same pundits queried: “What caused the massive recessions in Asia?” and “Can the United States remain ‘an oasis of ...

AIMS To analyse the follow-up data of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy in Brugada syndrome (BS). METHODS AND RESULTS We conducted a retrospective, single centre study of 47 patients (mean age: 44.5 +/- 15 years) with BS, who underwent primary prophylactic ICD implantation. All patients had baseline spontaneous (23 patients) or drug-induced (24 patients) coved type I ECG pa...

Ventricular arrhythmias are among the most severe complications of heart disease and can result in sudden cardiac death. Patients at risk currently receive implantable defibrillators that deliver electrical shocks to terminate arrhythmias on demand. However, strong electrical shocks can damage the heart and cause severe pain. Therefore, we have tested optogenetic defibrillation using expression...

BACKGROUND Observational studies have suggested that psychological stress increases the incidence of sudden cardiac death. Whether emotional or physical stressors can trigger spontaneous ventricular arrhythmias in patients at risk has not been systematically evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS Patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) were given diaries to record levels of defin...

A 49-year-old man consulted our department 3 months after having several implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks with subsequent syncope. A CRT-D device (Boston Scientific, Cognis 100-D) and a single-element subcutaneous array (Medtronic, model 6996 SQ) had been implanted 2 years previously for primary prevention of sudden cardiac death caused by symptomatic (New York Heart Associat...

• Volume 120 • Number 4 www.anesthesia-analgesia.org 737 Copyright © 2015 International Anesthesia Research Society DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000000556 During the past few decades, cardiac electrophysiology (EP) has evolved from a specialty that primarily implanted simple pulse generators (pacemakers) for bradycardia therapy to a specialty with an expanded practice in detecting and terminating ar...