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Aims: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in cardiac diseases. This study aimed to characterize the circulating miRNAs in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and correlate the miRNAs with the clinical outcomes of ARVC.Methods and results: This study included 62 patients with ventricular arrhythmia (VA): 28 patients (45%) had definite ARVC, 11 (18%) had borderline or possible ARVC, and 23 (37%) had idiopathic ventricular tachycardia (VT). In addition, 33 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were enrolled as normal control subjects. The expression of selected miRNAs was analysed in all study subjects. The clinical outcomes of patients with definite ARVC after catheter ablation were further investigated. On the basis of the miRNA polymerase chain reaction array, we selected 11 miRNAs for analysis of their expression in the plasma of all subjects. Definite ARVC patients had significantly higher expression of circulating miR-144-3p, 145-5p, 185-5p, and 494 than the three other groups. Out of 25 definite ARVC patients who underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation, recurrent VA occurred in 8 patients (32%) during the follow-up period (45 ± 20 months). Definite ARVC patients with recurrent VA had a higher level of circulating miR-494 than did those without recurrence. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed miR-494 to be a predictive factor of recurrent VA (area under the curve: 0.832).Conclusion: Plasma levels of miR-144-3p, 145-5p, 185-5p, and 494 were significantly elevated in definite ARVC patients with VA. An increased plasma level of miR-494 was associated with the recurrence of VA after ablation in definite ARVC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Third, the smartwatch app in this study provides audiovisual feedback mechanisms to guide the rescuers in performing high-quality CPR, but we cannot tell which feedback mechanism was responsible for improving the quality based on the study design. 1 T.C. Lu, Y. Chen, T.W. Ho, A novel depth estimation algorithm of chest compression for feedback of high-quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation based on a smartwatch, J Biomed Inform, 87, 2018, 60-65. [Extracted from the article]

Background: A recent meta-analysis reported late excess mortality in patients treated with paclitaxel-coated devices (PCDs) for symptomatic femoropopliteal disease. However, this finding is controversial., Objectives: To investigate the impact on mortality and predictors of repeat exposure to PCDs in patients with lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (LE-PAD)., Methods: We analyzed registry patient-level data from two centers. A total of 214 patients were enrolled, and stratified based on terciles of cumulative dose of paclitaxel. We treated 134 patients with a single PCD exposure and 80 with multiple PCD exposures. We used the follow-up index (FUI) in Kaplan-Meier survival estimates to minimize potential selection bias. We used Cox proportional hazard and splines models to determine the predictors of mortality and assess their relationships with mortality., Results: The mean cumulative dose of paclitaxel was significantly different among groups (6.40 mg vs. 15.06 mg vs. 38.57 mg, p < 0.001). The 5-year FUI (0.93 ± 0.19 vs. 0.94 ± 0.18 vs. 0.95 ± 0.15, p = 0.836) and survival rates were not different (65.4% vs. 51.9% vs. 72.0%, p = 0.148). There was no dose-response association between paclitaxel dosage and death (p = 0.297). The predictors of death were congestive heart failure, stroke, dialysis dependence, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) > 3, age > 71 years, and body mass index (BMI) < 20 kg/m 2 . Spline model analysis validated the non-linear associations between mortality, age, BMI, and NLR., Conclusions: Repeated PCD exposure for LE-PAD did not result in excess late mortality. Predictors of mortality might change over time, and continuous variables had non-linear relationships with death.

Background: The location of the accessory pathway (AP) can be precisely identified on surface electrocardiography (ECG) in adults with Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. However, current algorithms to locate the AP in pediatric patients with WPW syndrome are limited., Objective: To propose an optimal algorithm that localizes the AP in pediatric patients with WPW syndrome., Methods: From 1992 to 2016, 180 consecutive patients aged below 18 years with symptomatic WPW syndrome were included. After the exclusion of patients with non-descriptive electrocardiography (ECG), multiple APs, congenital heart diseases, non-inducible tachycardia, and those who received a second ablation, 104 patients were analyzed retrospectively. Surface ECG was obtained before ablation and evaluated by using previously documented algorithms, from which a new pediatric algorithm was developed., Results: Previous algorithms were not highly accurate when used in pediatric patients with WPW syndrome. In the new algorithm, the R/S ratio of V1 and the polarity of the delta wave in lead I could distinguish right from the left side AP with 100% accuracy. The polarity of the delta wave of lead V1 could distinguish free wall AP from septal AP with an accuracy of 100% in left-side AP, compared to 88.6% in leads III and V1 for right-side AP. The overall accuracy was 92.3%., Conclusions: This simple, novel algorithm could differentiate left from right AP and septal from free wall AP in pediatric patients with WPW syndrome.

Aims: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been implicated in cardiac diseases. This study aimed to characterize the circulating miRNAs in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) and correlate the miRNAs with the clinical outcomes of ARVC., Methods and Results: This study included 62 patients with ventricular arrhythmia (VA): 28 patients (45%) had definite ARVC, 11 (18%) had borderline or possible ARVC, and 23 (37%) had idiopathic ventricular tachycardia (VT). In addition, 33 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects were enrolled as normal control subjects. The expression of selected miRNAs was analysed in all study subjects. The clinical outcomes of patients with definite ARVC after catheter ablation were further investigated. On the basis of the miRNA polymerase chain reaction array, we selected 11 miRNAs for analysis of their expression in the plasma of all subjects. Definite ARVC patients had significantly higher expression of circulating miR-144-3p, 145-5p, 185-5p, and 494 than the three other groups. Out of 25 definite ARVC patients who underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation, recurrent VA occurred in 8 patients (32%) during the follow-up period (45 ± 20 months). Definite ARVC patients with recurrent VA had a higher level of circulating miR-494 than did those without recurrence. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed miR-494 to be a predictive factor of recurrent VA (area under the curve: 0.832)., Conclusion: Plasma levels of miR-144-3p, 145-5p, 185-5p, and 494 were significantly elevated in definite ARVC patients with VA. An increased plasma level of miR-494 was associated with the recurrence of VA after ablation in definite ARVC patients.

Aims: Whether the distribution of scar in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) plays a role in predicting different types of ventricular arrhythmias is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of scar distribution in patients with ARVC., Methods and Results: We studied 80 consecutive ARVC patients (46 men, mean age 47 ± 15 years) who underwent an electrophysiological study with ablation. Thirty-four patients receive both endocardial and epicardial mapping. Abnormal endocardial substrates and epicardial substrates were characterized. Three groups were defined according to the epicardial and endocardial scar gradient (<10%: transmural, 10-20%: intermediate, >20%: horizontal, as groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Sinus rhythm electrograms underwent a Hilbert-Huang spectral analysis and were displayed as 3D Simultaneous Amplitude Frequency Electrogram Transformation (SAFE-T) maps, which represented the arrhythmogenic potentials. The baseline characteristics were similar between the three groups. Group 3 patients had a higher incidence of fatal ventricular arrhythmias requiring defibrillation and cardiac arrest during the initial presentation despite having fewer premature ventricular complexes. A larger area of arrhythmogenic potentials in the epicardium was observed in patients with horizontal scar. The epicardial-endocardial scar gradient was independently associated with the occurrence of fatal ventricular arrhythmias after a multivariate adjustment. The total, ventricular tachycardia, and VF recurrent rates were higher in Group 3 during 38 ± 21 months of follow-up., Conclusion: For ARVC, the epicardial substrate that extended in the horizontal plane rather than transmurally provided the arrhythmogenic substrate for a fatal ventricular arrhythmia circuit.

Background: Epicardial catheter ablation has been shown to be an effective strategy for treating ventricular arrhythmias (VA). We investigated the efficacy and safety from a tertiary referral center in Taiwan., Methods: From 2010 to 2016, patients undergoing epicardial ablation for VAs were consecutively enrolled. The clinical characteristics, disease entity, electrophysiological studies, and ablation outcome were extracted for further analysis., Results: A total of 80 patients were eligible, including 34 patients for arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), 16 for Brugada syndrome (BrS), 13 for idiopathic VAs, 11 for idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM), 2 for ischemic cardiomyopathy, and 4 for other nonischemic cardiomyopathies (NICM). Epicardial ablation rendering VAs non-inducible was achieved in 78 patients (97.5%). There were no procedure-related deaths. Major complications were reported in 8 (10.0%) patients, including an acute hemopericardium in 5 (6.3%), delayed tamponade in 1 (1.3%), hemothorax in 1 (1.3%), and major pericardial reaction in 1 (1.3%). Two (2.7%) patients died due to causes other than procedure-related deaths. After a mean follow-up of 31 ± 15 months, 20 patients (25.0%) presented with VA recurrences, including 13 with ARVC, 1 with BrS, 1 with idiopathic VAs, 4 with IDCM, and 1 with other NICM., Conclusions: In this tertiary referral center's experience, the complication rate of an epicardial approach was acceptable. Patients with NICM displayed a growing trend for a referral for epicardial ablation. The long-term follow-up demonstrated that an epicardial ablation for idiopathic VAs and BrS was associated with a better prognosis than that for the other etiologies.

Aims: The detailed electrophysiological characteristics of patients with both atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT) and atrial flutter (AFL) have not been clarified. This study investigated the related electrophysiological differences in a large series of patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation of AVNRT., Methods and Results: A total of 1063 clinically documented AVNRT patients underwent catheter ablation were enrolled. Before the slow pathway (SP) ablation, 61 patients (5.7%) had inducible sustained cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI)-dependent AFL (Group 1), and the others (94.3%) without inducible sustained CTI-dependent AFL were defined as Group 2. The electrophysiological characteristics of these two groups and effect of the SP ablation on the inducibility of AFL were assessed. In Group 1, 36 patients (59%) had inducible/sustained AFL after the ablation of AVNRT and required a CTI ablation. The Group 1 patients had more AVNRT with continuous atrioventricular (AV) node function curves (P < 0.001, odds ratio = 7.55 [3.70-16.7], multivariate regression), and a younger age (P = 0.02, odds ratio = 1.02 [1.003-1.03], multivariate regression) than Group 2. The other characteristics were comparable between the two groups. The long-term follow-up (64.9 ± 34.9 months) revealed that the recurrence of AFL/atrial fibrillation was similar between the two groups (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: Atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia patients with concomitant CTI-dependent AFL had more continuous AV node function curves. Forty-one per cent of these patients had non-inducible AFL after the SP ablation, indicating a slow conduction isthmus in the triangle of Koch area., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2015. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)