Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Jonathan M. Kalman, Ahmed M. Al-Kaisey, Ramanathan Parameswaran, Joshua Hawson, Robert D. Anderson, Michael Lim, David Chieng, Stephen A. Joseph, Alex McLellan, Joseph B. Morton, Paul B. Sparks, Geoffrey Lee, Prashanthan Sanders, Peter M. Kistler
Summary: This study aimed to determine if the timing of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) affects arrhythmia outcomes. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the atrial arrhythmia free survival at 12 months post-ablation between patients who underwent early ablation and those who underwent delayed ablation. Other secondary outcomes also showed no significant difference. Therefore, delaying AF ablation by 12 months for antiarrhythmic drug management does not reduce the efficacy of ablation.
EUROPEAN HEART JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Ramanathan Parameswaran, Ahmed M. Al-Kaisey, Jonathan M. Kalman
Summary: Catheter ablation is a key strategy for managing atrial fibrillation, with technological advancements focusing on improving safety and effectiveness. Guidelines recommend the procedure for symptomatic patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF, but evidence from trials is mixed. Pulmonary vein isolation remains a cornerstone technique in AF ablation, with ongoing developments in technology aimed at enhancing patient outcomes.
NATURE REVIEWS CARDIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Jason G. Andrade, Oussama M. Wazni, Malte Kuniss, Nathaniel M. Hawkins, Marc W. Deyell, Gian-Battista Chierchia, Steven Nissen, Atul Verma, George A. Wells, Ricky D. Turgeon
Summary: Cryoballoon catheter ablation has been shown to significantly improve arrhythmia outcomes, produce clinically meaningful improvements in patient-reported outcomes, reduce subsequent health care resource use, and not increase the risk of serious adverse events compared with initial antiarrhythmic drug therapy in patients with treatment-naive AF.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Karl-Heinz Kuck, Dmitry S. Lebedev, Evgeny N. Mikhaylov, Alexander Romanov, Laszlo Geller, Oskars Kalejs, Thomas Neumann, Karapet Davtyan, Young Keun On, Sergey Popov, Maria Grazia Bongiorni, Michael Schlueter, Stephan Willems, Feifan Ouyang
Summary: The study indicates that radiofrequency ablation is more effective than antiarrhythmic drug therapy in delaying the progression from paroxysmal to persistent atrial fibrillation. Patients aged 65 and above may have an increased risk of progressing to persistent atrial fibrillation.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Emmanouil Charitakis, Silvia Metelli, Lars O. Karlsson, Antonios P. Antoniadis, Konstantinos D. Rizas, Ioan Liuba, Henrik Almroth, Anders Hassel Jonsson, Jonas Schwieler, Dimitrios Tsartsalis, Skevos Sideris, Elena Dragioti, Nikolaos Fragakis, Anna Chaimani
Summary: This network meta-analysis compared the efficacy and safety of different catheter ablation strategies for atrial fibrillation. The results showed that combining additional ablation strategies with pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) significantly reduced the risk of recurrence compared to PVI alone, with no significant differences in safety.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Oussama M. Wazni, Gopi Dandamudi, Nitesh Sood, Robert Hoyt, Jaret Tyler, Sarfraz Durrani, Mark Niebauer, Kevin Makati, Blair Halperin, Andre Gauri, Gustavo Morales, Mingyuan Shao, Jeffrey Cerkvenik, Rachelle E. Kaplon, Steven E. Nissen
Summary: In this multicenter trial, cryoballoon ablation as initial therapy was found to be superior to drug therapy in preventing atrial arrhythmia recurrence in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Serious procedure-related adverse events were uncommon.
NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
(2021)
Letter
Medicine, General & Internal
Isaac W. Leon-acuna, Takeki Suzuki
Summary: Andrade et al. found that initial catheter cryoballoon ablation strategy resulted in lower incidence of persistent atrial fibrillation and lower arrhythmia burden compared to antiarrhythmic drug therapy in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation during 3 years of follow-up. The study builds upon the findings of the EARLY-AF trial and the STOP AF First trial. Due to the relatively small sample size (303 patients) and short follow-up period, it may be difficult to detect mortality benefits of cryoballoon ablation.
NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jikai Song, Qinggang Zhang, Lifang Ye, Yaru Zheng, Lihong Wang
Summary: Compared to medical therapy, catheter ablation reduces the risk of stroke/transient ischaemic attacks and deaths in atrial fibrillation patients, as well as improves left ventricular ejection fraction and the rate of maintenance of sinus rhythm.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Ruben Schleberger, Andreas Metzner, Karl-Heinz Kuck, Dietrich Andresen, Stephan Willems, Ellen Hoffmann, Thomas Deneke, Lars Eckardt, Johannes Brachmann, Matthias Hochadel, Jochen Senges, Andreas Rillig
Summary: The study found that there was no significant difference in recurrence rates between patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation discharged with or without AAD after catheter ablation. However, patients discharged with AAD had higher reablation rates and reduced treatment satisfaction. For patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, there were no significant differences in recurrence rates, reablation rates, and treatment satisfaction between those discharged with or without AAD.
PHARMACOLOGY RESEARCH & PERSPECTIVES
(2021)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Masaharu Masuda, Kimiko Sekiya, Mitsutoshi Asai, Osamu Iida, Shin Okamoto, Takayuki Ishihara, Kiyonori Nanto, Takashi Kanda, Takuya Tsujimura, Yasuhiro Matsuda, Yosuke Hata, Hiroyuki Uematsu, Taku Toyoshima, Naoko Higashino, Toshiaki Mano
Summary: The study compared the impact of catheter ablation on cardiac structural reverse remodelling and atrial and ventricular functional mitral regurgitation, finding similar improvements in MR after ablation in AFMR and VFMR patients. However, AFMR patients showed a greater decrease in left atrial volume after ablation, while VFMR patients showed a greater increase in LV ejection fraction. Long-term prognosis indicated a lower composite endpoint in the AFMR group compared to the VFMR group, with MR improvement patients demonstrating a lower composite endpoint compared to those without improvement.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Jack R. Griffiths, Udi Nussinovitch, Jackson J. Liang, Richard Sims, Zachary T. Yoneda, Hannah M. Bernstein, Mohan N. Viswanathan, Paul Khairy, Uma N. Srivatsa, David S. Frankel, Francis E. Marchlinski, Amneet Sandhu, M. Benjamin Shoemaker, Sanghamitra Mohanty, John D. Burkhardt, Andrea Natale, Dhanunjaya Lakireddy, Natasja M. S. De Groot, Edward P. Gerstenfeld, Jeremy P. Moore, Pablo Avila, Sabine Ernst, Duy T. Nguyen
Summary: This study retrospectively analyzed the characteristics and outcomes of AF ablation in patients with CHD. The results showed that AF ablation was safe and resulted in effective AF control in CHD patients. There was no significant difference in the one-year success rate of ablation among patients with different complexities of CHD. Further research is needed to identify the most appropriate ablation targets in this challenging population.
CIRCULATION-ARRHYTHMIA AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Jason G. Andrade, George A. Wells, Marc W. Deyell, Matthew Bennett, Vidal Essebag, Jean Champagne, Jean-Francois Roux, Derek Yung, Allan Skanes, Yaariv Khaykin, Carlos Morillo, Umjeet Jolly, Paul Novak, Evan Lockwood, Guy Amit, Paul Angaran, John Sapp, Stephan Wardell, Sandra Lauck, Laurent Macle, Atul Verma
Summary: In patients with symptomatic, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, catheter cryoballoon ablation was associated with a significantly lower rate of atrial fibrillation recurrence compared to antiarrhythmic drug therapy. The ablation group also had better outcomes in terms of atrial tachyarrhythmia occurrence and atrial fibrillation burden.
NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Wei-Ru Chiou, Po-Lin Lin, Chun-Che Huang, Jen-Yu Chuang, Lawrence Yu-Min Liu, Min- Su, Feng-Ching Liao, Jen-Yuan Kuo, Cheng-Ting Tsai, Yih-Jer Wu, Kuang-Te Wang, Ying-Hsiang Lee
Summary: This study compares the outcomes of rivaroxaban with and without concomitant antiarrhythmic drugs for patients with non-permanent AF. The results suggest that the concomitant use of rivaroxaban with AADs can reduce the risk of thromboembolism and all-cause death, but may increase the occurrence of congestive heart failure.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
James A. Reiffel
Summary: Atrial fibrillation is the most common tachyarrhythmia encountered in clinical practice, and its incidence and prevalence are increasing due to the growth of the older population and better survival of patients with cardiovascular disorders. The treatment approach involves addressing comorbidities, controlling ventricular response, preventing thromboembolism, and rhythm control. Primary care physicians should be familiar with these treatment components and actively involved in patient care.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Emmanouil Charitakis, Silvia Metelli, Lars O. Karlsson, Antonios P. Antoniadis, Ioan Liuba, Henrik Almroth, Anders Hassel Jonsson, Jonas Schwieler, Skevos Sideris, Dimitrios Tsartsalis, Elena Dragioti, Nikolaos Fragakis, Anna Chaimani
Summary: This network meta-analysis compares the efficacy and safety of different catheter ablation strategies for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The study finds that radiofrequency ablation has a lower risk of recurrence compared to non-radiofrequency ablation strategies. There is no significant difference in efficacy and safety between different pulmonary vein isolation strategies. The study suggests that adjunctive ablation or sympathetic modulation may enhance the effectiveness of pulmonary vein isolation.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Takeshi Yamashita, Masaharu Akao, Hirotsugu Atarashi, Takanori Ikeda, Yukihiro Koretsune, Ken Okumura, Wataru Shimizu, Shinya Suzuki, Hiroyuki Tsutsui, Kazunori Toyoda, Atsushi Hirayama, Masahiro Yasaka, Takenori Yamaguchi, Satoshi Teramukai, Tetsuya Kimura, Yoshiyuki Morishima, Atsushi Takita, Hiroshi Inoue
Summary: This study evaluated the impact of polypharmacy on 2-year outcomes in elderly patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. The results showed that patients receiving more medications were older, had poorer renal function, and had more comorbidities. Moreover, with increasing medications, the incidence rates of stroke, bleeding, and other adverse events significantly increased.
CIRCULATION JOURNAL
(2023)
Correction
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Tetsuma Kawaji, Satoshi Shizuta, Kyohei Yamaji, Munekazu Tanaka, Kazuki Kitano, Takanori Aizawa, Shintaro Yamagami, Akihiro Komasa, Takashi Yoshizawa, Masashi Kato, Takafumi Yokomatsu, Shinji Miki, Koh Ono, Takeshi Morimoto, Takeshi Kimura
Letter
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Kenji Yodogawa, Yuhi Fujimoto, Kanako Hagiwara, Eiichiro Oka, Hiroshi Hayashi, Hiroshige Murata, Teppei Yamamoto, Yu-Ki Iwasaki, Wataru Shimizu
Letter
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Kenji Yodogawa, Yuhi Fujimoto, Kanako Hagiwara, Eiichiro Oka, Hiroshi Hayashi, Hiroshige Murata, Teppei Yamamoto, Yu-Ki Iwasaki, Wataru Shimizu
Editorial Material
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Satoshi Shizuta
CIRCULATION JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Itsuro Morishima, Yasunori Kanzaki, Yasuhiro Morita, Koichi Inoue, Atsushi Kobori, Kazuaki Kaitani, Toshiya Kurotobi, Hirosuke Yamaji, Yumie Matsui, Yuko Nakazawa, Kengo Kusano, Toshiro Tomomatsu, Yoshihiro Ikai, Koichi Furui, Ryota Yamauchi, Hiroyuki Miyazawa, Nobuaki Tanaka, Takeshi Morimoto, Takeshi Kimura, Satoshi Shizuta, PAF Registry investigat
Summary: This study investigated the efficacy of catheter ablation (CA) as a curative therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) and sick sinus syndrome (SSS). The results showed that the presence of SSS did not have a negative impact on the recurrence of AF after CA, and the majority of patients with SSS did not require pacemaker implantation.
HEART LUNG AND CIRCULATION
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Tomofumi Nakamura, Takeshi Aiba, Wataru Shimizu, Tetsushi Furukawa, Tetsuo Sasano
Summary: In this study, an artificial intelligence model was developed to predict previous or future ventricular fibrillation episodes from Brugada syndrome ECGs. The model achieved high accuracy and F1 score in ECG evaluation and showed good performance in predicting the presence of ventricular fibrillation.
CIRCULATION JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Takeshi Yamashita, Masaharu Akao, Hirotsugu Atarashi, Takanori Ikeda, Yukihiro Koretsune, Ken Okumura, Wataru Shimizu, Shinya Suzuki, Hiroyuki Tsutsui, Kazunori Toyoda, Atsushi Hirayama, Masahiro Yasaka, Takenori Yamaguchi, Satoshi Teramukai, Tetsuya Kimura, Yoshiyuki Morishima, Atsushi Takita, Hiroshi Inoue
Summary: This study evaluated mortality in elderly non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients receiving direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), showing that cardiovascular diseases, infections, and malignancies were the leading causes of death. Patients aged ≥85 years were more prone to non-cardiovascular and non-malignancy deaths, and DOACs were associated with a lower risk of death due to intracranial hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, and renal disease compared with warfarin.
CIRCULATION JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Tomofumi Sawatani, Akihiro Shirakabe, Hirotake Okazaki, Masato Matsushita, Yusaku Shibata, Shota Shigihara, Suguru Nishigoori, Nozomi Sasamoto, Kazutaka Kiuchi, Nobuaki Kobayashi, Wataru Shimizu, Kuniya Asai
Summary: This study found that BNP and NT-proBNP levels change over time during hospitalization for AHF, with BNP significantly decreasing on Days 2-5 and Before-discharge, while NT-proBNP remains unchanged. The research also revealed that a high NT-proBNP/BNP ratio on Day 2-5 is associated with poorer prognosis, even if BNP levels adequately decrease.
INTERNATIONAL HEART JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Yasuo Okumura, Koichi Nagashima, Ryuta Watanabe, Katsuaki Yokoyama, Takeshi Kato, Hidehira Fukaya, Hidemori Hayashi, Shiro Nakahara, Wataru Shimizu, Yu-ki Iwasaki, Yuhi Fujimoto, Yasushi Mukai, Koichiro Ejima, Takayuki Otsuka, Shinya Suzuki, Masato Murakami, Masaomi Kimura, Masahide Harada, Junjiroh Koyama, Hideharu Okamatsu, Teiichi Yamane, Seigo Yamashita, Michifumi Tokuda, Ryohsuke Narui, Mitsuru Takami, Morio Shoda, Tomoo Harada, Ikutaro Nakajima, Katsuhito Fujiu, Kenichi Hiroshima, Kojiro Tanimoto, Tadashi Fujino, Keijiro Nakamura, Koji Kumagai, Ayako Okada, Hideki Kobayashi, Tatsuya Hayashi, Yuji Watari, Mina Hatsuno, Eizo Tachibana, Kazuki Iso, Kazumasa Sonoda, Yoshiyasu Aizawa, Akio Chikata, Satoru Sakagami, Masaru Inoue, Hitoshi Minamiguchi, Nobuhiko Makino, Kazuhiro Satomi, Yoshinao Yazaki, Hideshi Aoyagi, Makoto Ichikawa, Hironori Haruta, Takafumi Hiro, Kimie Okubo, Ken Arima, Taiki Tojo, Hajime Kihara, Satoru Miyanaga, Yoshiaki Fukuda, Koji Oiwa, Tamami Fujiishi, Masashi Akabane, Norikazu Ishikawa, Kengo Kusano, Koji Miyamoto, Haruna Tabuchi, Tomoyuki Shiozawa, Kenjiro Miyamoto, Hiroshi Mase, Kenta Murotani, REHEALTH AF study
Summary: This study aims to evaluate the benefits of ablation treatment in patients aged >= 80 years with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF), and to assess its impact on patients' quality of life (QoL) and long-term clinical outcomes.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Yasuo Terauchi, Hiroshi Inoue, Takeshi Yamashita, Masaharu Akao, Hirotsugu Atarashi, Takanori Ikeda, Yukihiro Koretsune, Ken Okumura, Shinya Suzuki, Hiroyuki Tsutsui, Kazunori Toyoda, Atsushi Hirayama, Masahiro Yasaka, Takenori Yamaguchi, Satoshi Teramukai, Tetsuya Kimura, Yoshiyuki Morishima, Atsushi Takita, Wataru Shimizu
Summary: This sub-analysis of the ANAFIE Registry investigated 2-year outcomes and oral anticoagulant use stratified by glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels among Japanese patients aged ≥ 75 years with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) with and without clinical diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM). The results showed that only HbA1c ≥ 8.0% was associated with increased all-cause death and net clinical outcome risks, while the event risks did not increase in other HbA1c subgroups.
CARDIOVASCULAR DIABETOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Peripheral Vascular Disease
Kazuomi Kario, Naoyuki Hasebe, Ken Okumura, Takeshi Yamashita, Masaharu Akao, Hirotsugu Atarashi, Takanori Ikeda, Yukihiro Koretsune, Wataru Shimizu, Shinya Suzuki, Hiroyuki Tsutsui, Kazunori Toyoda, Atsushi Hirayama, Masahiro Yasaka, Takenori Yamaguchi, Satoshi Teramukai, Tetsuya Kimura, Yoshiyuki Morishima, Atsushi Takita, Hiroshi Inoue
Summary: This sub-cohort study aimed to estimate the incidence of clinical outcomes in elderly Japanese patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and high home systolic blood pressure (H-SBP) receiving anticoagulant therapy. The results showed that in warfarin-treated patients, the incidence of cardiovascular events was higher in those with H-SBP ≥ 145 mmHg compared to those with H-SBP < 125 mmHg. In the DOAC group, there was also a tendency for increased cardiovascular events at H-SBP ≥ 145 mmHg. Therefore, strict blood pressure control is necessary in elderly NVAF patients receiving anticoagulant therapy.
HYPERTENSION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Arwa Younis, J. Martijn Bos, Wojciech Zareba, Mehmet. K. K. Aktas, Arthur A. M. Wilde, Chadi Tabaja, Christopher Bodurian, Kathryn. E. E. Tobert, Scott McNitt, Bronislava Polonsky, Wataru Shimizu, Michael. J. J. Ackerman, Ilan Goldenberg
Summary: In patients with congenital long QT syndrome (LQTS), syncope triggered by adrenergic and nonadrenergic factors is associated with different risks of subsequent life-threatening events (LTEs).
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Ryota Nishio, Manabu Ogita, Satoru Suwa, Koichi Nakao, Yukio Ozaki, Kazuo Kimura, Junya Ako, Teruo Noguchi, Kazuteru Fujimoto, Kazuoki Dai, Takashi Morita, Wataru Shimizu, Yoshihiko Saito, Atsushi Hirohata, Yasuhiro Morita, Teruo Inoue, Atsunori Okamura, Toshiaki Mano, Minoru Wake, Kengo Tanabe, Yoshisato Shibata, Hiroshi Tsutsui, Hiroshi Funayama, Nobuaki Kokubu, Ken Kozuma, Shirou Uemura, Tetsuya Toubaru, Keijiro Saku, Shigeru Oshima, Yusuke Yoshikawa, Soshiro Ogata, Kunihiro Nishimura, Yoshihiro Miyamoto, Masaharu Ishihara
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the impact of door-to-balloon (DTB) time on long-term outcomes in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). The results showed that shorter DTB time was associated with better long-term clinical outcomes in STEMI patients. Further efforts to shorten DTB time are recommended to improve long-term clinical outcomes in STEMI patients.
JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Ken Nagata, Hiroshi Inoue, Takeshi Yamashita, Masaharu Akao, Hirotsugu Atarashi, Takanori Ikeda, Yukihiro Koretsune, Ken Okumura, Wataru Shimizu, Shinya Suzuki, Hiroyuki Tsutsui, Kazunori Toyoda, Atsushi Hirayama, Takenori Yamaguchi, Satoshi Teramukai, Tetsuya Kimura, Yoshiyuki Morishima, Atsushi Takita, Masahiro Yasaka
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between cognitive function and 2-year clinical outcomes in elderly patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. It found that patients with cognitive impairment had higher risks of adverse events and mortality. Low educational background and concomitant cerebrovascular disorders were significant risk factors for cognitive decline.
BMJ NEUROLOGY OPEN
(2023)