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Image-guided percutaneous interventions have successfully replaced invasive surgical methods in some cardiologic practice, where the use of 3D-reconstructed cardiac images, generated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), plays an important role. To conduct computer-aided catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation accurately, multimodal information integration with electroanatomic mapping (EAM) data and MRI/CT images is considered in this work. Specifically, we propose a variational formulation for surface reconstruction and incorporate the prior shape knowledge, which results in a level set method. The proposed method enables simultaneous reconstruction and registration under nonrigid deformation. Promising experimental results show the potential of the proposed approach., 1. INTRODUCTION Current treatment of cardiac arrhythmias ranges from noninvasive strategies, such as pharmacological therapy, to minimally invasive techniques, such as catheter-based ablation, and to open surgical techniques. While medical [...]

Background: Chest pain from coronary heart disease (CHD) accounts for more than 8 million emergency department visits every year in the United States, emphasizing the need for cardiovascular (CV) interventions to help reduce this high number. Meditation--a state of contemplation, concentration, and reflection--has the potential to help decrease CV disease. Methods: This article reviews the available data regarding the effects of meditation on various aspects of CV health. Results: During the past few decades, multiple studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of meditation on various CV risk factors. In addition to decreasing CV mortality, meditation has also been shown to improve conditions such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and high cortisol levels. Still unclear is how current medical therapies impact overall CHD in comparison to meditation techniques. Conclusion: Prospective trials are needed to study the effects of meditation on CV risk factors, to provide guidelines for daily meditation practice, and to determine the efficacy of meditation compared to current pharmacologic therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts related to clinical practice including "In Colorectal Cancer Screening, Multitarget Stool DNA Test Appears to Have Higher Sensitivity Than Fecal Immunochemical Test," "Hydroxychloroquine May Not Improve Symptoms of Primary Sjögren Syndrome in Adults," "Decrease Risk of Major Vascular Events in Patients With Vascular Disease."

The article presents abstracts on medical topics which include severity of psoriasis, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and cardioverter defibrillators.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the misconceptions and knowledge gaps for treating systolic heart failure, the side effects of diabetic drugs on cardiovascular, and the techniques in deep vein thrombosis treatment.

With the expanding integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practices in conjunction with modern medicine, yoga has quickly risen to being one of the most common CAM practices across the world. Despite widespread use of yoga, limited studies are available, particularly in the setting of dysrhythmia. Preliminary studies demonstrate promising results from integration of yoga as an adjunct to medical therapy for management of dysrhythmias. In this review, we discuss the role of autonomic nervous system in cardiac arrhythmia,interaction of yoga with autonomic tone and its subsequent impact on these disease states. The role of yoga in specific disease states, and potential future direction for studies assessing the role of yoga in dysrhythmia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implanted defibrillators have become mainstream therapy for the prevention of sudden cardiac death from ventricular tachyarrhythmias. A decade of studies has confirmed the superiority of ICDs over antiarrhythmic drug therapy in prolonging the life of patients with a prior history of sustained VT or VF. More recent studies have compared ICD therapy to drugs or no antiarrhythmic therapy as 'primary prophylaxis' in patients considered at high risk for sudden death or with prior MIs. In selected patients, ICDs lead to important relative and absolute reductions in mortality in patients with no prior history of sustained VT or VF. Clinicians need to carefully consider these studies in their management of patients with CAD and severe LV dysfunction.