New perspectives in catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation Towards a better treatment to reach better outcomes

The overall aim of the studies presented in this thesis is to elucidate whether there is still room for improvement in the field of catheter ablation for AF either paroxysmal and persistent, and the following chapters will guide the reader in a virtual path that addresses this issue

Directed networks as a novel way to describe and analyze cardiac excitation : directed graph mapping

Networks provide a powerful methodology with applications in a variety of biological, technological and social systems such as analysis of brain data, social networks, internet search engine algorithms, etc. To date, directed networks have not yet been applied to characterize the excitation of the human heart. In clinical practice, cardiac excitation is recorded by multiple discrete electrodes. During (normal) sinus rhythm or during cardiac arrhythmias, successive excitation connects neighboring electrodes, resulting in their own unique directed network. This in theory makes it a perfect fit for directed network analysis. In this study, we applied directed networks to the heart in order to describe and characterize cardiac arrhythmias. Proof-of-principle was established using in-silico and clinical data. We demonstrated that tools used in network theory analysis allow determination of the mechanism and location of certain cardiac arrhythmias. We show that the robustness of this approach can potentially exceed the existing state-of-the art methodology used in clinics. Furthermore, implementation of these techniques in daily practice can improve the accuracy and speed of cardiac arrhythmia analysis. It may also provide novel insights in arrhythmias that are still incompletely understood

The industrialization of ablation: a highly standardized and reproducible workflow for radiofrequency ablation of atrial fibrillation

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Prospective evaluation of entrainment mapping as an adjunct to new-generation high-density activation mapping systems of left atrial tachycardias

BACKGROUND Identification of atrial tachycardia (AT) mechanism remains challenging. OBJECTIVE We sought to investigate the added value of entrainment maneuvers (EM) when using new high-density activation mapping (HDAM) technologies for the identification of complex left ATs. METHODS Thirty-six consecutive complex ATs occurring after ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation were prospectively analyzed. The AT mechanism was diagnosed in 2 steps by 2 experts: (1) based on H DAM only (Coherent module, CARTO, Biosense Webster Inc., Irvine, CA) and (2) with additional analysis from EM. RESULTS EM resulted in atrial fibrillation in 1 patient, who was excluded from the analysis. Ten of 11 single loop macroreentries identified by HDAM were confirmed by EM. Only 4 of 14 double loop macroreentries identified by HDAM wereconfirmed by EM (in 10 patients, EM unmasked passive activation of one of the visual cir- cuits). One sole microreentry circuit identified by HDAM was confirmed by EM. A combination of macro- and microreentry circuits was visualized in 3 ATs using H DAM. However, EM revealed passive activation of the visual macroreentrant loop in 2 of these 3 cases. By using HDAM in 6 of 35 ATs (17%), no univocal mechanism could be identified, whereas EM finally enabled the diagnosis of 5 microreentry circuits and 1 macroreentrant AT. All the diagnoses made from EM in addition to HDAM were confirmed by ablation. CONCLUSION Entrainment maneuvers are still useful during mapping of complex left ATs, mostly to differentiate active from passive macroreentrant loops and to demonstrate microreentry circuits

Severity of Coronary Atherosclerosis and Risk of Diabetes Mellitus

Cardio-vascular target organ damage predicts the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in hypertensive patients. Whether an increased incidence of DM is also in relation to the severity of coronary atherosclerosis is unknown

Insulin Resistance Predicts Severity of Coronary Atherosclerotic Disease in Non-Diabetic Patients

Background: Insulin resistance (IR) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) represents a predictor of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, how IR is able to impact the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in non-diabetic patients is unknown. Objectives. We investigated the relation between the IR and the extent and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in non-diabetic patients referred to coronary angiography (CA) Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing to CA for acute coronary syndromes or stable angina were analyzed. The IR was assessed by mean of the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) whereas the SYNTAX score (SS) was used as index of the severity of coronary atherosclerosis Results: Overall, 126 patients were included, with a median SS of 12 (IQR 5.25–20.5). Patients were divided in four groups according to the distribution in quartiles of SS (SS1-2-3-4). A significant correlation between HOMA-IR and SS was observed, especially in women. A progressive increase of HOMA-IR was observed in parallel with the increasing severity (from SS1 to SS4) and extension (1-2-3-vessel disease) of coronary atherosclerosis. Multivariable analysis showed that the HOMA-IR was the strongest independent predictor of severe (SS4) and extensive (three-vessel disease) coronary atherosclerosis. Conclusion: Insulin resistance goes hand in hand with the extension and severity of coronary atherosclerosis in non-diabetic patients. The HOMA index is an independent predictor of three-vessel disease at CA. The HOMA index could be useful for risk stratification of CAD even in absence of T2D

Adipokines and coronary artery disease

Adipose tissue, besides being an important energetic storage, is also a source of cytokines and hormones which act in a paracrine, autocrine and especially endocrine manner, influencing the cardiometabolic axis. Adipokines are a group of mediators with pleiotropic function, that are involved in many physiological processes, so that a disregulation in their secretion can lead to multiple pathological conditions. In this review our aim was to clarify the role of adipokines in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, especially in coronary artery disease, and based on current scientific evidence, to analyze the therapeutic and behavioral strategies that are so far available