Results of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation in hypertrophied hearts - Comparison between primary and secondary hypertrophy

Background and purpose: Approximately 20-25% of the patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) develop atrial fibrillation (AF) during the clinical course of the disease, a percentage significantly larger than that of the general population. The purpose of the present study was to report on the procedural results of patients with AF and either primary or secondary left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Methods and subjects: Twenty-two consecutive HCM patients (55% male, mean age 57 ± 8 years) with symptomatic AF, having undergone AF ablation procedures between September 2009 and July 2012 were compared with respect to procedural outcome and follow-up characteristics with 22 matched controls with secondary cardiac hypertrophy (64% male, 63 ± 10 years) from our prospective AF catheter ablation registry. Results and conclusion: Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) was successful in restoring long-term sinus rhythm in patients with LVH due to HCM and due to secondary etiology. However, patients with HCM needed more RFCA procedures and frequently additional antiarrhythmic drug therapy in order to maintain sinus rhythm. © 2014 Japanese College of Cardiology

Comb copolymers with polystyrene and polyisoprene branches: Effect of block topology on film morphology

Comblike copolymers with randomly distributed polystyrene (PS) and polyisoprene (PI) branches, i.e., PCEVE-g-(PS, PI), were synthesized by the "grafting onto" technique. The comblike copolymers exhibit a low dispersity, high molar masses, and controlled number of branches. Their characteristics and behavior as isolated objects were investigated as solid molecular deposits, using atomic force microscopy (AFM), and in solution, in a good solvent of the polystyrene and polyisoprene branches, using dynamic light scattering (DLS). AFM experiments show isolated uniform molecules that adopt an ovo'idal conformation whose dimensions are found in good agreement with DLS data. The self-organization of the PS, PI comb copolymers was further studied in the solid state as thin films, using SAXS. The results show that PCEVE- g-(PS, PI) combs yield lamellar biphasic morphologies that were compared to those observed for PCEVE-g-(PS-b-PI) combs with PS-b-PI diblock branches and those known for linear PS-b-PI of similar weight compositions

Perpendicular Lamellae in Parallel Lamellae in a Hierarchical CECEC-P Hexablock Terpolymer

We describe the synthesis and phase behavior of a nearly monodisperse poly(cyclohexylethylene-b-ethylene-b-cyclohexylethylene-b-ethylene-b-cyclohexylethylene-b-ethylene-alt-propylene) (CECEC-P) hexablock terpolymer, synthesized by sequential anionic polymerization followed by catalytic hydrogenation. This multiblock copolymer, which contains equal volume fractions of P and compositionally symmetric CECEC, microphase separates through chemical incompatibility between C, E, and P and exhibits a complex morphology with two different length scales related to the local (C-E) and overall (C-E-P) sequences. We have identified a perpendicular lamellae in parallel lamellae mesostructure in the CECEC-P sample; where layers of rubbery P separate sheets of alternating layers of semicrystalline E and glassy C, arranged perpendicular to the larger overall lamellar structure