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BACKGROUND: In severely affected patients with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, beta-blockers are often insufficiently protective. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether flecainide is associated with a lower incidence of arrhythmic events (AEs) when added to beta-blockers in a large cohort of patients with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. METHODS: From 2 international registries, this multicenter case cross-over study included patients with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia in whom flecainide was added to beta-blocker therapy. The study period was defined as the period in which background therapy (ie, beta-blocker type [beta1-selective or nonselective]), left cardiac sympathetic denervation, and implantable cardioverter defibrillator treatment status, remained unchanged within individual patients and was divided into pre-flecainide and on-flecainide periods. The primary end point was AEs, defined as sudden cardiac death, sudden cardiac arrest, appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator shock, and arrhythmic syncope. The association of flecainide with AE rates was assessed using a generalized linear mixed model assuming negative binomial distribution and random effects for patients. RESULTS: A total of 247 patients (123 [50%] females; median age at start of flecainide, 18 years [interquartile range, 14-29]; median flecainide dose, 2.2 mg/kg per day [interquartile range, 1.7-3.1]) were included. At baseline, all patients used a beta-blocker, 70 (28%) had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, and 21 (9%) had a left cardiac sympathetic denervation. During a median pre-flecainide follow-up of 2.1 years (interquartile range, 0.4-7.2), 41 patients (17%) experienced 58 AEs (annual event rate, 5.6%). During a median on-flecainide follow-up of 2.9 years (interquartile range, 1.0-6.0), 23 patients (9%) experienced 38 AEs (annual event rate, 4.0%). There were significantly fewer AEs after initiation of flecainide (incidence rate ratio, 0.55 [95% CI, 0.38-0.83]; P=0.007). Among patients who were symptomatic before diagnosis or during the pre-flecainide period (n=167), flecainide was associated with significantly fewer AEs (incidence rate ratio, 0.49 [95% CI, 0.31-0.77]; P=0.002). Among patients with ≥1 AE on beta-blocker therapy (n=41), adding flecainide was also associated with significantly fewer AEs (incidence rate ratio, 0.25 [95% CI, 0.14-0.45]; P

Introduction: Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is the most common cardiovascular problem that develops in extremely preterm infants and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Uncertainty exists on whether early pharmacotherapeutic treatment of a clinically symptomatic and echocardiography-confirmed haemodynamically significant PDA in extremely preterm infants improves outcomes. Given the wide variation in the approach to PDA treatment in this gestational age (GA) group, a randomised trial design is essential to address the question. Before embarking on a large RCT in this vulnerable population, it is important to establish the feasibility of such a trial., Methods and Analysis: Design: a multi-centre, open-labelled, parallel-designed pilot randomised controlled trial. Participants: preterm infants born <26 weeks of gestation with a PDA diagnosed within 72 hours after birth. Intervention (selective early medical treatment (SMART) strategy): selective early pharmacological treatment of a moderate-severe PDA shunt (identified based on pre-defined clinical signs and routine screening echocardiography) within the first 72 postnatal hours with provision for repeat treatment if moderate-severe shunt persists. Comparison (early conservative management strategy): no treatment of PDA in the first postnatal week. Primary outcomes: (1) proportion of eligible infants recruited during the study period; (2) proportion of randomised infants treated outside of protocol-mandated therapy. Sites and sample size: the study is being conducted in seven neonatal intensive care units across Canada and the USA with a target of 100 randomised infants. Analysis: the primary feasibility outcomes will be expressed as proportions. A pre-planned Bayesian analysis will be conducted for secondary clinical outcomes such as mortality, severe intraventricular haemorrhage, procedural PDA closure and chronic lung disease to aid stakeholders including parent representatives decide on the appropriateness of enrolling this vulnerable population in a larger trial if the feasibility of recruitment in the pilot trial is established., Ethics and Dissemination: The study has been approved by the IWK Research Ethics Board (#1027298) and six additional participating sites. On the completion of the study, results will be presented at national and international meetings, published in peer-reviewed journals and incorporated into existing systematic reviews., Trial Registration Number: NCT05011149 (WHO Trial Registration Data Set in Appendix A)., Protocol Version: Ver 7.2 (dated July 19, 2023)., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted public health systems and individuals' behaviour, with decreasing survival rates among out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients. Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves OHCA outcomes, which may have been affected by COVID-19. We sought to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on bystanders' willingness to administer CPR in three Canadian provinces. Methods Participants ≥ 18 years of age were surveyed online about their current and recalled pre-pandemic attitudes toward CPR and perceived transmission risk. We compared mean willingness to perform various CPR actions before and during the pandemic using paired t-tests. Differences in willingness across three provinces were assessed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) test. We also conducted Chi-square tests to assess changes in willingness to perform CPR on children and older adults. Results Five hundred thirty-five participants were surveyed from October 1 to November 15, 2021. The mean age was 42.7 years (SD 14.5), and 60.2% were female. Participants reported less willingness to perform chest compressions on strangers during the pandemic compared to their recollections before the pandemic (mean willingness 86.2% vs. 94.3% prior, p<0.001). With personal protective equipment (PPE) available, particularly masks, willingness recovered to 91.3% (p<0.001). Willingness was higher in Nova Scotia (NS) than in British Columbia (BC) or Ontario (ON). Reluctance to assist older adults increased from 6.6% to 12.0% (p=0.020). Conclusions This study highlights changes in CPR willingness during the COVID-19 pandemic, underscoring the importance of PPE and offering insights into public health strategies pertaining to CPR during a pandemic., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Research Ethics Board of the University of British Columbia issued approval H21-02624. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: John Sapp declare(s) a grant and personal fees from Abbott, Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic, Varian. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Shadarevian et al.)