A randomised controlled trial of PEGASUS, a psychoeducational programme for young people with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder.

Psychoeducation is an essential component of postdiagnostic care for people with ASD (autism spectrum disorder), but there is currently no evidence base for clinical practice. We designed, manualised and evaluated PEGASUS (psychoeducation group for autism spectrum understanding and support), a group psychoeducational programme aiming to enhance the self-awareness of young people with ASD by teaching them about their diagnosis

Initial Independent Outcomes from Focal Impulse and Rotor Modulation Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: Multicenter FIRM Registry

Introduction The success of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for atrial fibrillation (AF) may be improved if stable AF sources identified by Focal Impulse and Rotor Mapping (FIRM) are also eliminated. The long-term results of this approach are unclear outside the centers where FIRM was developed; thus, we assessed outcomes of FIRM-guided AF ablation in the first cases at 10 experienced centers. Methods We prospectively enrolled n = 78 consecutive patients (61 ± 10 years) undergoing FIRM guided ablation for persistent (n = 48), longstanding persistent (n = 7), or paroxysmal (n = 23) AF. AF recordings from both atria with a 64-pole basket catheter were analyzed using a novel mapping system (Rhythm View™; Topera Inc., CA, USA). Identified rotors/focal sources were ablated, followed by PVI. Results Each institution recruited a median of 6 patients, each of whom showed 2.3 ± 0.9 AF rotors/focal sources in diverse locations. 25.3% of all sources were right atrial (RA), and 50.0% of patients had ≥1 RA source. Ablation of all sources required a total of 16.6 ± 11.7 minutes, followed by PVI. On >1 year follow-up with a 3-month blanking period, 1 patient lost to follow-up (median time to 1st recurrence: 245 days, IQR 145–354), single-procedure freedom from AF was 87.5% (patients without prior ablation; 35/40) and 80.5% (all patients; 62/77) and similar for persistent and paroxysmal AF (P = 0.89). Conclusions Elimination of patient-specific AF rotors/focal sources produced freedom-from-AF of ≈80% at 1 year at centers new to FIRM. FIRM-guided ablation has a rapid learning curve, yielding similar results to original FIRM reports in each center’s first cases

Noninvasive Assessment of Complexity of Atrial Fibrillation Correlation With Contact Mapping and Impact of Ablation

[EN] Background: It is difficult to noninvasively phenotype atrial fibrillation (AF) in a way that reflects clinical end points such as response to therapy. We set out to map electrical patterns of disorganization and regions of reentrant activity in AF from the body surface using electrocardiographic imaging, calibrated to panoramic intracardiac recordings and referenced to AF termination by ablation. Methods: Bi-atrial intracardiac electrograms of 47 patients with AF at ablation (30 persistent, 29 male, 63 +/- 9 years) were recorded with 64-pole basket catheters and simultaneous 57-lead body surface ECGs. Atrial epicardial electrical activity was reconstructed and organized sites were invasively and noninvasively tracked in 3-dimension using phase singularity. In a subset of 17 patients, sites of AF organization were targeted for ablation. Results: Body surface mapping showed greater AF organization near intracardially detected drivers than elsewhere, both in phase singularity density (2.3 +/- 2.1 versus 1.9 +/- 1.6; P=0.02) and number of drivers (3.2 +/- 2.3 versus 2.7 +/- 1.7; P=0.02). Complexity, defined as the number of stable AF reentrant sites, was concordant between noninvasive and invasive methods (r(2)=0.5; CC=0.71). In the subset receiving targeted ablation, AF complexity showed lower values in those in whom AF terminated than those in whom AF did not terminate (P<0.01). Conclusions: AF complexity tracked noninvasively correlates well with organized and disorganized regions detected by panoramic intracardiac mapping and correlates with the acute outcome by ablation. This approach may assist in bedside monitoring of therapy or in improving the efficacy of ongoing ablation procedures.This article was supported in part by: Instituto de Salud Carlos III FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional; IJCI-2014-22178, DTS16/00160; PI14/00857, PI16/01123; PI17/01059; PI17/01106), Generalitat Valenciana Grants (APOSTD/2017 and APOSTD/2018) and projects (GVA/2018/103); National Institutes of Health (Dr Narayan: R01 HL85537; K24 HL103800); EITHealth 19600 AFFINE.Rodrigo Bort, M.; Martínez Climent, BA.; Hernández-Romero, I.; Liberos Mascarell, A.; Baykaner, T.; Rogers, AJ.; Alhusseini, M.... (2020). Noninvasive Assessment of Complexity of Atrial Fibrillation Correlation With Contact Mapping and Impact of Ablation. 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Comparison of radiofrequency catheterablation of drivers and circumferential pulmonary vein isolation in atrial fibrillation: aAtienza, F., Almendral, J., Ormaetxe, J. M., Moya, Á., Martínez-Alday, J. D., Hernández-Madrid, A., … Jalife, J. (2014). Comparison of Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation of Drivers and Circumferential Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Atrial Fibrillation. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 64(23), 2455-2467. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2014.09.053Seitz J Bars C Théodore G Beurtheret S Lellouche N Bremondy M Ferracci A Faure JPenaranda G Yamazaki M etal. AF Ablation Guided by Spatiotemporal ElectrogramDispersion Without Pulmonary Vein Isolation: A Wholly Patient-Tailored Approach. J Am CollGuillem MS Climent AM Millet J Arenal Á Fernández-Avilés F Jalife J Atienza FBerenfeld O. Noninvasive localization of maximal frequency sites of atrial fibrillation by bodysurface potential mapping. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2013;6:294-301.Ramirez FD Birnie DH Nair GM Szczotka A Redpath CJ Sadek MM Nery PB. Efficacyand safety of driver-guided catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and metaRamirez, F. D., Birnie, D. H., Nair, G. M., Szczotka, A., Redpath, C. J., Sadek, M. M., & Nery, P. B. (2017). Efficacy and safety of driver-guided catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, 28(12), 1371-1378. doi:10.1111/jce.13313Baykaner T Rogers AJ Meckler GL Zaman J Navara R Rodrigo M Alhusseini MKowalewski CAB Viswanathan MN Narayan SM etal. Clinical Implications of Ablation ofDrivers for Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Circ ArrhythmBrachmann J Hummel JD Wilber DJ Sarver AE Rapkin J Shpun S Szili-Torok T.Prospective randomized comparison of rotor ablation vs. conventional ablation for treatment ofVijayakumar R Vasireddi SK Cuculich PS Faddis MN Rudy Y. MethodologyConsiderations in Phase Mapping of Human Cardiac Arrhythmias. Circ ArrhythmAlhusseini M Vidmar D Meckler GL Kowalewski CA Shenasa F Wang PJ Narayan SMRappel WJ. Two Independent Mapping Techniques Identify Rotational Activity Patterns at Sitesof Local Termination During Persistent Atrial Fibrillation. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol.2017;28:615-622.Miller JM Kalra V Das MK Jain R Garlie JB Brewster JA Dandamudi G. Clinical Benefitof Ablating Localized Sources for Human Atrial Fibrillation: The Indiana University FIRMZaman JAB Baykaner T Clopton P Swarup V Kowal RC Daubert JP Day JD Hummel JSchricker AA Krummen DE etal. Recurrent Post-Ablation Paroxysmal Atrial FibrillationShares Substrates With Persistent Atrial Fibrillation: An 11-Center Study. JACC ClinYushkevich PA Zhang H Gee JC. Continuous medial representation for anatomicalstructures. IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2006;25:1547-64.Remondino F. 3-D reconstruction of static human body shape from image sequence.Remondino, F. (2004). 3-D reconstruction of static human body shape from image sequence. Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 93(1), 65-85. doi:10.1016/j.cviu.2003.08.006Eggert DW Lorusso A Fish RB. Estimating 3-D rigid body transformations: a comparisonRodrigo M Guillem MS Climent AM Pedrón-Torrecilla J Liberos A Millet J FernándezRodrigo, M., Guillem, M. S., Climent, A. M., Pedrón-Torrecilla, J., Liberos, A., Millet, J., … Berenfeld, O. (2014). Body surface localization of left and right atrial high-frequency rotors in atrial fibrillation patients: A clinical-computational study. Heart Rhythm, 11(9), 1584-1591. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2014.05.013Rodrigo M Climent AM Liberos A Fernández-Avilés F Berenfeld O Atienza F GuillemMS. Highest dominant frequency and rotor positions are robust markers of driver location duringMS. Technical Considerations on Phase Mapping for Identification of Atrial Reentrant Activityin Direct- and Inverse-Computed Electrograms. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol.2017;10:e005008.Castells F Mora C Rieta JJ Moratal-Pérez D Millet J. Estimation of atrial fibrillatory wavefrom single-lead atrial fibrillation electrocardiograms using principal component analysisconcepts. Med Biol Eng Comput. 2005;43:557-560.Rodrigo M Climent AM Liberos A Hernandez-Romero I Arenal A Bermejo J FernandezAviles F Atienza F Guillem MS. Solving Inaccuracies in Anatomical Models forElectrocardiographic Inverse Problem Resolution by Maximizing Reconstruction Quality. IEEERodrigo, M., Climent, A. M., Liberos, A., Hernandez-Romero, I., Arenal, A., Bermejo, J., … Guillem, M. S. (2018). Solving Inaccuracies in Anatomical Models for Electrocardiographic Inverse Problem Resolution by Maximizing Reconstruction Quality. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, 37(3), 733-740. doi:10.1109/tmi.2017.2707413Honarbakhsh S Schilling RJ Providência R Dhillon G Sawhney V Martin CA Keating EFinlay M Ahsan S Chow A etal. 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Performance and limitations of noninvasive cardiac activation mapping. Heart Rhythm, 16(3), 435-442. doi:10.1016/j.hrthm.2018.10.010Rudy Y. Letter to the Editor-ECG imaging and activation mapping. Heart Rhythm. 2019;16:e50-e.Podziemski P Zeemering S Kuklik P van Hunnik A Maesen B Maessen J Crijns HJWillems S Verma A Betts TR Murray S Neuzil P Ince H Steven D Sultan A Heck PMHall MC etal. Targeting Nonpulmonary Vein Sources in Persistent Atrial Fibrillation IdentifiedLim HS Hocini M Dubois R Denis A Derval N Zellerhoff S Yamashita S Berte BMahida S Komatsu Y etal. Complexity and Distribution of Drivers in Relation to Duration ofCamm AJ Breithardt G Crijns H Dorian P Kowey P Le Heuzey JY Merioua I PedrazziniL Prystowsky EN Schwartz PJ etal. Real-life observations of clinical outcomes with rhythmand rate-control therapies for atrial fibrillation RECORDAF (Registry on Cardiac RhythmCamm, A. J., Breithardt, G., Crijns, H., Dorian, P., Kowey, P., Le Heuzey, J.-Y., … Weintraub, W. (2011). 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M., Husser, D., Millet-Roig, J., & Castells, F. (2009). How Many Leads Are Necessary for a Reliable Reconstruction of Surface Potentials During Atrial Fibrillation? IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, 13(3), 330-340. doi:10.1109/titb.2008.2011894Rodrigo M Climent AM Liberos A Fernández-Aviles F Atienza F Guillem MS BerenfeldO. Minimal configuration of body surface potential mapping for discrimination of left versu

Easing the transition to secondary education for children with autism spectrum disorder: An evaluation of the Systemic Transition in Education Programme for Autism Spectrum Disorder (STEP-ASD)

In mainstream education, the transition from primary to secondary school ('school transition') is difficult for children with autism spectrum disorder, being marked by high levels of emotional and behavioural difficulties. The Systemic Transition in Education Programme for Autism Spectrum Disorder (STEP-ASD) is a new, manualised school transition intervention. We investigated its feasibility and efficacy for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (N = 37; mean age = 11.47 years; mean IQ = 85.24) using an unblinded, non-randomised, controlled design. Teachers found the intervention feasible and acceptable. Children receiving STEP-ASD (n = 17) showed a large (Cohen's d = 0.88) reduction in school-reported emotional and behavioural difficulties, whereas controls (n = 20) showed a slight increase (d = -0.1) (p = 0.010). These encouraging findings suggest the value of STEP-ASD as a low-intensity intervention for reducing problem behaviours and distress in children with autism spectrum disorder as they transition to mainstream secondary school

Acoustic contrast, planarity and robustness of sound zone methods using a circular loudspeaker array

Since the mid 1990s, acoustics research has been undertaken relating to the sound zone problem—using loudspeakers to deliver a region of high sound pressure while simultaneously creating an area where the sound is suppressed—in order to facilitate independent listening within the same acoustic enclosure. The published solutions to the sound zone problem are derived from areas such as wave field synthesis and beamforming. However, the properties of such methods differ and performance tends to be compared against similar approaches. In this study, the suitability of energy focusing, energy cancelation, and synthesis approaches for sound zone reproduction is investigated. Anechoic simulations based on two zones surrounded by a circular array show each of the methods to have a characteristic performance, quantified in terms of acoustic contrast, array control effort and target sound field planarity. Regularization is shown to have a significant effect on the array effort and achieved acoustic contrast, particularly when mismatched conditions are considered between calculation of the source weights and their application to the system

Effect of Iloprost® on endothelin-1-induced free radical activation in rabbit brain stem

PubMed: 15172678Iloprost, a stable analogue of prostacyclin, was used to reverse the early period of vasoconstriction provoked by Endothelin-1 by administering into the rabbit basilar artery. We observed if this produced an effect on the central nervous system parenchyma mediated by free radical system. The red neurons were counted in brain stem sections stained with haematoxylin and eosin, while superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde levels were measured in brain stem tissue samples as a marker of reactive oxygen metabolites; both 30 and 90min after administration of either Endothelin-1 (0.25ng) alone or Endothelin-1 followed by Iloprost (0.5?g/kg) into the basilar artery. Endothelin-1 significantly increased the number of red neurons, while Iloprost significantly reduced them after 30 and 90min. However, regarding the reactive oxygen metabolites; a similar reversing effect of Iloprost was not observed although superoxide dismutase levels were significantly decreased after Endothelin-1 infusion. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The Effect of Hydrogen Sulphide on Experimental Cerebral Vasospasm.

Cerebral vasospasm is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Hydrogen Sulfide (H 2 S), a gaseous neurotransmitter, is produced in many tissues including the central nervous system (CNS). The vasodilatatory effect of H2S has been shown in the CNS; however, its role in cerebral vasospasm has not been investigated before