Pretreatment with verapamil in patients with persistent or chronic atrial fibrillation who underwent electrical cardioversion

AbstractOBJECTIVESTo evaluate, in a prospective and randomized fashion, the efficacy of a pretreatment with verapamil (V) in reducing recurrences of atrial fibrillation (AF) after electrical cardioversion (C).BACKGROUNDThe increased vulnerability for AF recurrence is probably due to AF-induced changes in the electrophysiologic properties of the atria. This electrical remodeling seems to be due to intracellular calcium overload.METHODSOne hundred seven patients with persistent or chronic AF underwent external and/or internal C. All patients received oral propafenone (P) (900 mg/day) three days before and during the entire period of follow-up (three months). In the first group, patients received only the P. In the second group, in adjunct to P, oral V (240 mg/day) was initiated three days before C and continued during the follow-up. Finally, in the third group, oral V was administered three days before and continued only for three days after electrical C.RESULTSDuring the three months of follow-up, 23 patients (23.7%) had AF recurrence. Mantel-Haenszel cumulative chi-square reached a significant level only when comparing AF free survival curves of group I versus group II and group III (chi-square = 5.2 and 4, respectively; p < 0.05). Significantly, 15 (65.2%) AF relapses occurred during the first week after cardioversion with a higher incidence in group I (10/33 patients, 30.3%) than group II (2/34 patients, 5.9%; p = 0.01) and group III (3/30 patients, 10%; p = 0.04).CONCLUSIONSSix days of oral V administration centered on the C day, combined with P, significantly reduce the incidence of early recurrences of AF compared with P alone

Response to flecainide infusion predicts long-term success of hybrid pharmacologic and ablation therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation

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Towards a Muon Collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work.Comment: 118 pages, 103 figure

Towards a muon collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work

Towards a muon collider

A muon collider would enable the big jump ahead in energy reach that is needed for a fruitful exploration of fundamental interactions. The challenges of producing muon collisions at high luminosity and 10 TeV centre of mass energy are being investigated by the recently-formed International Muon Collider Collaboration. This Review summarises the status and the recent advances on muon colliders design, physics and detector studies. The aim is to provide a global perspective of the field and to outline directions for future work

Erratum: Towards a muon collider

The original online version of this article was revised: The additional reference [139] has been added. Tao Han’s ORICD ID has been incorrectly assigned to Chengcheng Han and Chengcheng Han’s ORCID ID to Tao Han. Yang Ma’s ORCID ID has been incorrectly assigned to Lianliang Ma, and Lianliang Ma’s ORCID ID to Yang Ma. The original article has been corrected

Solving the gap between HCV detection and treatment in prison. HCV-RNA testing and treatment in a cohort of new arriving convicts in Southern Italy

HCV infection elimination is set to be carried out by 2030. To achieve this goal, the WHO has set minor achievable short-term "mini-goals." One of these is the treatment of "difficult to reach and treat populations," such as prisoners. One of the biggest obstacles to reaching this mini goal is the poor knowledge of the real HCV prevalence in such a population and the barriers to its detection, treatment, and follow-up. Even if HCV testing in Italian prisons is feasible and recommended, it is not always carried out. To worsen the picture, the peculiar status of conviction is correlated with the difficulty in carrying out the antiviral therapy due to challenges in follow-up and the refusals by inmates

Not Only COVID-19: Prevalence and Management of Latent Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection in Three Penitentiary Facilities in Southern Italy

Latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and active tuberculosis in prisoners are higher than the general population and are two public health concerns, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence and the factors associated with LTBI among the inmate population detained in three Southern Italian penitentiaries. Tuberculin intradermal reaction skin test was performed on the inmates who agreed to participate in the study. In case of positivity, the QuantiFERON-TB test was performed. In those positive to QuantiFERON, chest X-ray films were performed, and treatment initiated. A total of 381 inmates accepted to participate. The prevalence of LTBI was 4.2%. In the analysis, LTBI was associated with no self-reported contact with active tuberculosis patients within the prisons, and 10% of subjects admitted the use of inhaled drugs. No HIV coinfections were found. No cases of active symptomatic tuberculosis were identified during the study period. Our results confirm that incarceration increases the risk of tuberculous infection. Non-EU nationality and a history of drug addiction appear to be major risk factors for tuberculosis infection in the penitentiary setting. Reinforcing tuberculosis control is essential to prevent its transmission in prisons