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The role of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RA) and dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i) in mitigating the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) remains unknown. We interrogated the Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database to study the association between AF-related adverse events and the use of GLP-1 RA and DPP-4i. A signal of disproportionate reporting of AF was detected with the DPP-4i group compared with all the other drugs in the FAERS database [ROR, 2.56; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.10-3.12], whereas there was no disproportionality signal detected with the GLP-1 RA group (ROR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.78-1.03) although liraglutide showed a significant disproportionality signal (ROR, 2.51; 95% CI, 2.00-3.15). Our analysis supports the existing body of literature demonstrating the cardiac safety of GLP-1 RA but raises concerns about the apparent increase in the risk of AF associated with DPP-4i. Further clinical and translational studies are needed to validate these findings.

Recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after catheter ablation (CA) remains common and studies have shown about 5%-9% annual recurrence rate after CA. We sought to assess the echocardiogram derived left atrial appendage (LAA) emptying velocity as a predictor of AF recurrence after CA.To determine if LAA emptying is a marker of recurrence of AF post-CA METHODS: A total of 303 consecutive patients who underwent CA for AF between 2014 and 2020 were included. Baseline clinical characteristics and echocardiographic data of the patients were obtained by chart review. LAA emptying velocities were obtained from transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE). LA voltage was obtained during the mapping for CA. Chi-square test and nominal logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. An receiver operator characteristic curve was used to determine LAA velocity cut-off.Mean patient age was 61.7 ± 10.5; 32% were female. Mean LAA emptying velocity was 47.5 ± 20.2. A total of 103 (40%) patients had recurrence after CA. In the multivariable model, after adjusting for potential confounders, LAA emptying velocity of ≥52.3 was associated with decreased AF recurrence postablation (odds ratio [OR]: 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.31-0.97; p = .03*). There were 190 (73%) patients in normal sinus rhythm during TEE and CA, and sensitivity analysis of these patients showed that LAA velocity ≥52.3 remained associated with decreased AF recurrence (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.15-0.82; p = .01*).LAA emptying velocity measured during preprocedural TEE can serve as a predictor of AF recurrence in patients undergoing CA.

Introduction: the role of vaccines in preventing diseases is well-established. However, the evolving techniques and types of vaccine necessitate the search for its safety more than ever. While cases of takotsubo cardiomyopathy and COVID-19 vaccine have been described, a comprehensive study to investigate the role of vaccination with cardiomyopathy and heart failure is lacking. The aim of this study is to investigate the link between the current vaccines and heart failure. Method: we utilized vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) to search for cardiomyopathy, cardiac failure or ventricular dysfunction. Disproportionality signal analysis was conducted by measuring reporting odds ratio (ROR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: VAERS reported over 1,300,000 adverse events between 1990-2021. Heart failure was reported over 2000 times in association with multiple vaccines. 56% of vaccine-related heart failure reported in males; 88% were serious; 19% mortality rate. The majority of reported heart failure was related to COVID-19 vaccines with ROR of 21.6 (CI: 18.3 to 25.4, P

Integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network is a novel radio access network (RAN) solution, enabling network densification for 5G and beyond. In this paper, we use power control combined with resource allocation algorithms to develop efficient IAB networks with high service coverage. Particularly, we develop a genetic algorithm-based solution for the power control of both user equipments and IAB nodes such that the network uplink service coverage probability is maximized. Finally, considering millimeter wave channel models, we study the effect of different parameters including minimum data rate requirement, coverage distance and transmit power on the network performance. As we show, a power allocation schemes with well-tuned parameters can improve the uplink performance of IAB networks considerably. Moreover, with millimeter wave communications and a proper network deployment, the effect of interference on the service coverage probability is negligible., 6 pages, 6 figures