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Introduction: We report the case of a 37-year-old male athlete, who developed during exercise atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. No structural heart disease., Results: Invasive programmed ventricular stimulation induced ventricular fibrillation. A heterozygous mutation in the CASQ2 gene (c.775G>T, p.E259X) was found., Conclusions: The findings in our patient may suggest some increased ventricular excitability using programmed ventricular stimulation in CASQ2 polymorphic ventricular tachycardia patients., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Aim: To identify the birth defects listed in the embryo-fetopathology department of the maternity and neonatology center of Tunis (Tunisia), and to study the epidemiological factors., Methods: We carried out a retrospective study on 2489 malformed cases including fetuses, stillborns and deceased newborns among 5750 ones autopsied in the embryo-fetopathology department of the maternity and neonatology center of Tunis., Results: The sex ratio of autopsied cases was 1.06. 41% of them weighed less than 500 grams. The gestational age was between 22-28 weeks of amenorrhea in 41.3% of cases. Among the maternal characteristics, we noted an average maternal age of 30.1 years old (with extremes ranging from 16 to 51 years old), and a predominance of O blood group. Parental consanguinity and history of reproductive failure were found respectively in 37.4% and 32.5% of cases. Antenatal diagnosis was established in 62% of cases. It was positive in 59.5% of cases (all types of malformations combined). Among the 2489 malformed cases, 4568 birth defects were identified. Neurological anomalies were the most common (26.01%) followed by nephro-urological anomalies (13.16%) and cardiovascular anomalies (11.47%). During the study period, 164 cases of polymalformative syndromes were counted and 217 cases of chromosomal aberrations were classified., Conclusion: This study allowed us to assess the frequency of birth defects, categorize them based on their type and determine the different epidemiological factors during a long period of nine years, even though our nation does not have a national register of birth defects. In Tunisia, it is important to carry out a national multicenter study in order to set a national register representing the real statistics of these anomalies.

Background: There is limited information on the mode of arrhythmia initiation in idiopathic ventricular fibrillation (IVF). A non-pause-dependent mechanism has been suggested to be the rule., Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the mode and characteristics of initiation of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (PVT) in patients with short or long-coupled PVT/IVF included in THESIS (THerapy Efficacy in Short or long-coupled idiopathic ventricular fibrillation: an International Survey), a multicenter study involving 287 IVF patients treated with drugs or radiofrequency ablation., Methods: We reviewed the initiation of 410 episodes of ≥1 PVT triplet in 180 patients (58.3% females; age 39.6 ± 13.6 years) with IVF. The incidence of pause-dependency arrhythmia initiation (prolongation by >20 ms of the preceding cycle length) was assessed., Results: Most arrhythmias (n = 295; 72%) occurred during baseline supraventricular rhythm without ambient premature ventricular complexes (PVCs), whereas 106 (25.9%) occurred during baseline rhythm including PVCs. Nine (2.2%) arrhythmias occurred during atrial/ventricular pacing and were excluded from further analysis. Mode of PVT initiation was pause-dependent in 45 (15.6%) and 64 (60.4%) of instances in the first and second settings, respectively, for a total of 109 of 401 (27.2%). More than one type of pause-dependent and/or non-pause-dependent initiation (mean: 2.6) occurred in 94.4% of patients with ≥4 events. Coupling intervals of initiating PVCs were <350 ms, 350-500 ms, and >500 ms in 76.6%, 20.72%, and 2.7% of arrhythmia initiations, respectively., Conclusions: Pause-dependent initiation occurred in more than a quarter of arrhythmic episodes in IVF patients. PVCs having long (between 350 and 500 ms) and very long (>500 ms) coupling intervals were observed at the initiation of nearly a quarter of PVT episodes., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Importance: Sudden death and cardiac arrest frequently occur without explanation, even after a thorough clinical evaluation. Calcium release deficiency syndrome (CRDS), a life-threatening genetic arrhythmia syndrome, is undetectable with standard testing and leads to unexplained cardiac arrest., Objective: To explore the cardiac repolarization response on an electrocardiogram after brief tachycardia and a pause as a clinical diagnostic test for CRDS., Design, Setting, and Participants: An international, multicenter, case-control study including individual cases of CRDS, 3 patient control groups (individuals with suspected supraventricular tachycardia; survivors of unexplained cardiac arrest [UCA]; and individuals with genotype-positive catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia [CPVT]), and genetic mouse models (CRDS, wild type, and CPVT were used to define the cellular mechanism) conducted at 10 centers in 7 countries. Patient tracings were recorded between June 2005 and December 2023, and the analyses were performed from April 2023 to December 2023., Intervention: Brief tachycardia and a subsequent pause (either spontaneous or mediated through cardiac pacing)., Main Outcomes and Measures: Change in QT interval and change in T-wave amplitude (defined as the difference between their absolute values on the postpause sinus beat and the last beat prior to tachycardia)., Results: Among 10 case patients with CRDS, 45 control patients with suspected supraventricular tachycardia, 10 control patients who experienced UCA, and 3 control patients with genotype-positive CPVT, the median change in T-wave amplitude on the postpause sinus beat (after brief ventricular tachycardia at ≥150 beats/min) was higher in patients with CRDS (P < .001). The smallest change in T-wave amplitude was 0.250 mV for a CRDS case patient compared with the largest change in T-wave amplitude of 0.160 mV for a control patient, indicating 100% discrimination. Although the median change in QT interval was longer in CRDS cases (P = .002), an overlap between the cases and controls was present. The genetic mouse models recapitulated the findings observed in humans and suggested the repolarization response was secondary to a pathologically large systolic release of calcium from the sarcoplasmic reticulum., Conclusions and Relevance: There is a unique repolarization response on an electrocardiogram after provocation with brief tachycardia and a subsequent pause in CRDS cases and mouse models, which is absent from the controls. If these findings are confirmed in larger studies, this easy to perform maneuver may serve as an effective clinical diagnostic test for CRDS and become an important part of the evaluation of cardiac arrest.

Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors have no conflicts to disclose.

Objective: The study aimed to assess and compare both the chewing efficiency and the contact area between class I and class II of Angle's malocclusions., Material and Methods: A total of 120 individuals aged between 19 and 30 years were examined and were divided into two groups according to Angle's class (Class I and class II). The chewing efficiency was quantified using the ViewGum software and two-colored chewing gum. The contact area was quantified using modeling wax and MATLAB software. All data were collected, then, analyzed using SPSS software 21. Data normality was checked through kurtosis test. Descriptive results were calculated. Matched sample t-tests were used to compare chewing efficiency measurements between right and left sides. Independent t-tests were used to compare chewing efficiency and the contact area between class I and class II of Angle's malocclusions. Linear regression and Pearson correlation were used to assess the correlation between chewing efficiency and the contact area. The significance level was fixed at p = 0.05., Results: For group 1, the mean hue value on both sides was 0.086 ± 0.058. For group 2, it was 0.095 ± 0.055. The difference between both groups was statistically significant (p = 0.03). For group 1, the mean contact area was 49.91 ± 21.47 mm 2 . For group 2, it was 51.42 ± 19.76 mm 2 . The difference was statistically not significant (p = 0.4). The correlation between the contact area and the chewing efficiency in both groups was statistically significant and it was negative (in class I p = 0 and R = -0.616; in class II p = 0.01 and R = -0.408)., Conclusion: The Chewing is better for patients with Angle's Class I malocclusion. The contact area is higher. Larger occlusal contact area leads to higher masticatory efficiency. Further studies should be conducted., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 THE AUTHORS.)

Competing Interests: Disclosures None.

Statement of Problem: The process of removing ceramic veneers is difficult, time consuming, and invasive. However, although lasers should provide a straightforward method for the debonding of ceramic veneers, a systematic review is lacking., Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the efficacy of the laser-assisted debonding of ceramic veneers., Material and Methods: A systematic search was conducted in Medline/PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Then, an analysis was performed using the meta-analysis approach to investigate the efficacy of the laser-assisted debonding of ceramic veneers. Quality assessment of the included articles was carried out using the Cochrane Collaboration tool. For the meta-analysis, the RevMan 5.4 software program was used to perform a random-effects model of standardized mean differences with 95% confidence intervals., Results: A total of 1108 studies were identified, of which 627 studies were selected for title and abstract analysis. The qualitative analysis included 16 studies, of which 3 studies were used in the quantitative synthesis. In the meta-analysis, the shear bond strength of the laser groups was compared with that of the control group. A substantial level of heterogeneity was noted in the included studies (I 2 =67%, P<.001)., Conclusions: The findings suggest that erbium lasers have a significant immediate effect in decreasing the shear bond strength of ceramic veneers. Furthermore, with proper laser settings, veneers can be safely removed without damaging the underlying tooth structure., (Copyright © 2024 Editorial Council for The Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)