Radiation Curing in Coatings

The market for radiation curing in coatings exhibited a significant continuous rise during the past decades. A rough overview over curing mechanism, coating formulation and raw materials is given. EB-Coatings for hardboards and UV-coatings for optical fibres are described more detailed as examples for application

Atrioventricular node ablation is not a prerequisite for cardiac resynchronization therapy in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation

Background: In drug-refractory heart failure, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an established method in patients with sinus rhythm, severe reduced ejection fraction and broad QRS. Heart failure is known as a predisposition for atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the putative impact of atrioventricular node (AVN) ablation in chronic AF and CRT remains unclear. The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of CRT in patients with chronic AF and the requirement for AVN ablation. Methods: A total of 100 patients were included in the retrospective study, 64 with sinus rhythm (SR) and 36 with chronic AF with a mean duration of 2.8 ± 0.5 years. Clinical parameters, QRS duration and echocardiographic parameters were compared at baseline and after a follow-up of 11 ± 0.34 months in patients with SR and in 27 patients with chronic AF who received optimized medication to control ventricular rate and nine patients who underwent an AVN ablation. Results: Baseline characteristics between patients with SR or AF in the presence or absence of AVN ablation were comparable. In each group, a significant improvement of NYHA class, ejection fraction could be observed, with an analogous reduction of QRS duration and a diminished left ventricular end-diastolic dimension after 11 ± 0.34 months of CRT. Conclusions: The present results demonstrate a comparable improvement in left ventricular function and functional capacity in all treated groups. In conclusion, AVN ablation is not a prerequisite for CRT in patients with severe heart failure and chronic AF

The ABC of a Simple Method for Pulmonary Vein Angiography

Catheter-directed intervention to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) is becoming widely accepted procedure in current clinical practice. For assessment of pulmonary vein (PV) anatomy, angiography of left atrium (LA) and/or PV is often performed. We present a new, simple angiographic method for PVs and LA opacification using SL1 sheath. Total of 100 patients in our clinic underwent this procedure. In all of the cases good angiographic results were achieved. No immediate or late complications related to this procedure were observed

A randomized double-blind comparison of biventricular versus left ventricular stimulation for cardiac resynchronization therapy: the biventricular versus left univentricular pacing with ICD back-up in heart failure patients (B-LEFT HF) trial

Background : Biventricular (BiV) stimulation is the preferred means of delivering cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), although left ventricular (LV)-only stimulation might be as safe and effective. B-LEFT HF is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, double-blind study aimed to examine whether LV-only is noninferior to BiV pacing regarding clinical and echocardiographic responses. Methods : B-LEFT HF randomly assigned 176 CRT-D recipients, in New York Heart Association class III or IV, with an LV ejection fraction = 130 milliseconds, to a BiV (n = 90) versus LV (n = 86) stimulation group. Clinical status and echocardiograms were analyzed at baseline and 6 months after CRT-D implant to test the noninferiority of LV-only compared with BiV stimulation. Results : The proportion of responders was in line with current literature on CRT, with improvement in heart failure composite score in 76.2% and 74.7% of patients in BiV and LV groups, respectively. Comparing LV versus BiV pacing, the small differences in response rates and corresponding 95% CI indicated that LV pacing was noninferior to BiV pacing for a series of response criteria (combination of improvement in New York Heart Association and reverse remodeling, improvement in heart failure composite score, reduction in LV end-systolic volume of at least 10%), both at intention-to-treat and at per-protocol analysis. Conclusions : Left ventricular-only pacing is noninferior to BiV pacing in a 6-month follow-up with regard to clinical and echocardiographic responses. Left ventricular pacing may be considered as a clinical alternative option to BiV pacin