Effects of combination therapy with SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists on CRT response and clinical outcomes in in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients receiving chronic anti-diabetic medications: A multicenter observational study.

Background: Type-2-diabetes-mellitus (T2DM) impairs outcomes in patients undergoing cardiac-resynchronization-therapy-with-defibrillator (CRTd).While both sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) have cardiovascular benefits, their combination impact in CRTd-treated T2DM patients remains unclear.

Methods: In this prospective multicenter observational study, 2,257 T2DM patients treated with CRTd were stratified into three groups: SGLT2i monotherapy (n 874), GLP-1RAs monotherapy (n 808), and combination therapy with GLP-1RAs/SGLT2i (n 575).

Two-year outcomes of left bundle branch area pacing versus traditional right ventricular pacing in middle-aged adults: a registry-based trial.

Aims: Prolonged right ventricular pacing (RVP) increases the risk of cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, heart failure (HF), and mortality. This registry-based trial compared left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) with RVP in patients younger than 65 years.

Methods And Results: Using the ConTempoRary Cardiac Stimulation in Clinical practicE: lEft, BivEntriculAr, Right, and conDuction System Pacing (TREEBEARD) registry (NCT06324682), patients were randomized 1:1 to LBBAP or RVP.

Left Atrial Mechanics and Remodeling in Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: Introducing the EASE Score for Pre-Ablation Risk Prediction.

Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is a common arrhythmia often treated with catheter ablation, particularly pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). However, recurrence remains frequent and is often linked to unrecognized structural and functional remodeling of the left atrium. We introduce the Echocardiographic Atrial Strain and conduction Evaluation (EASE) score as a theoretical, noninvasive model to stratify recurrence risk in patients undergoing catheter ablation for PAF.

The Long Shadow of Repair: Late-Onset Atrioventricular Block and Atrial Arrhythmias After Scimitar Syndrome and Mitral Annuloplasty.

Background and Clinical Significance: Scimitar Syndrome is a rare congenital cardiopulmonary anomaly characterized by partial anomalous pulmonary venous return, often requiring early surgical correction. It may coexist with other congenital or acquired cardiovascular anomalies, including valvular diseases such as mitral regurgitation. When surgical correction of Scimitar Syndrome is combined with mitral valve annuloplasty, the proximity to the atrioventricular node may potentially predispose patients to late-onset conduction disturbances, although causality remains speculative.

Termination of atrial arrhythmia and restoration of sinus rhythm during pulsed field ablation with a pentaspline catheter in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.

Advanced TecHnologies For SuccEssful AblatioN of AF in Clinical Practice (ATHENA). URL: http://clinicaltrials.gov/Identifier: NCT05617456.

The Functional and Imaging Implications of Left Bundle Branch Pacing in Ischemic Cardiomyopathy.

Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction due to ischemic cardiomyopathy remains a significant clinical challenge. Electrical conduction delays exacerbate symptoms by causing uncoordinated contractions, reducing pumping efficiency, and increasing mortality. Right ventricular pacing further worsens dyssynchrony, while resynchronization therapy improves outcomes but has a high non-responder rate.

Outcomes of Micra Leadless Pacemaker Implants in Centers With and Without Cardiac Surgery.

Background: Micra leadless pacemaker offers an alternative to traditional transvenous pacemakers by eliminating the risks associated with leads and device pockets. Due to the technical demands of a leadless transcatheter pacemaker, concerns initially limited the procedure to centers with on-site cardiac surgery (CS) capabilities. However, growing evidence supports its safe implementation in noncardiac surgical centers, though data comparing outcomes in these settings remain limited.

Association between device-detected subclinical atrial fibrillation and diabetes in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators: A propensity score-matched analysis.

Background And Objective: Device-detected subclinical atrial fibrillation (DDAF) and diabetes mellitus (DM) are common in patients with cardiac implantable devices. Our objective was to compare DDAF incidence between diabetic and non-diabetic patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator (CRT-D), using propensity score (PS) matching to adjust for confounders.

Methods: Data from the Home Monitoring Expert Alliance dataset were analyzed for patients with ICD or CRT-D and no prior clinical AF.

Does Age Impact Safety and Efficacy During Pulse-Field Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation?

Background: There is no evidence evaluating efficiency, effectiveness, and safety outcomes in older patients in the context of pulsed-field ablation technology for the ablation of atrial fibrillation. We aimed to compare safety, efficacy, and acute and long-term outcomes of pulsed-field ablation in older patients (≥75 years) with younger ones.

Methods: We enrolled consecutive patients who had undergone atrial fibrillation ablation with the pulsed-field ablation FARAPULSE system (Boston Scientific) at 15 centers.

Insight Into Early Recurrences After Pulsed-Field Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: Results From a Multicenter Experience.

Background: Factors contributing to early recurrence after atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, particularly with pulsed-field ablation (PFA), are poorly understood.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the significance of early recurrence and identify factors associated with its occurrence, focusing on predicting late recurrence in AF patients treated with PFA.

Methods: A total of 620 consecutive patients referred for their first paroxysmal or early persistent AF ablation underwent the procedure using the FARAPULSE PFA system (Boston Scientific) across 10 centers.

Real-world adoption of left bundle branch area pacing: Insights from the Conduction-System pacing Italian Network Group (C-SING).

Background And Objective: Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) is increasingly used for treating bradycardia and heart failure. However, real-world data are limited. The Conduction-System Pacing Italian Network Group (C-SING) collected prospective data on LBBAP procedures in a nationwide context.

Detection of Ventricular Tachycardia by an Implantable Cardiac Monitor 8 Months Post-myocardial Infarction.

Following a non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (MI), a 68-year-old hypertensive, severely obese woman with 45% left ventricular ejection fraction underwent an implantable cardiac monitor (ICM) insertion. After 8 months, the ICM remotely transmitted multiple non-sustained ventricular tachycardia episodes. Symptomatic during these events, the patient underwent an invasive electrophysiologic stimulation, which induced ventricular arrhythmia.

Left bundle branch pacing and cardiac remodeling in HF patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: epigenetic pathways and clinical outcomes.

Background: Left bundle branch (LBB) pacing could achieve cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in patients who cannot be resynchronized via the placement of the left ventricle (LV) lead into the coronary sinus. LBB pacing could improve cardiovascular outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients with LBB block who are affected by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Study Hypothesis: LBB pacing could increase the number of CRT responders and lead to the best clinical outcomes in HF patients with T2DM, inducing cardiac remodeling and improving left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) via microRNA (miR) modulation.

Device-detected atrial sensing amplitudes as a marker of increased risk for new onset and progression of atrial high-rate episodes.

Background: Atrial high-rate episodes (AHREs) are frequent in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices. A decrease in device-detected P-wave amplitude may be an indicator of periods of increased risk of AHRE.

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the association between P-wave amplitude and AHRE incidence.

Endothelial Dysfunction Drives CRTd Outcome at 1-Year Follow-Up: A Novel Role as Biomarker for miR-130a-5p.

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) causes worse prognoses in heart failure (HF) patients treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRTd). ED triggers the downregulation of microRNA-130 (miR-130a-5p), which targets endothelin-1 (ET-1). Thus, we evaluated ED and the response to CRTd by assessing miR-130a-5p and ET-1 serum levels.

Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on arrhythmias in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators in southern Italy.

Background: The effects of lockdown on non-COVID patients are varied and unexpected. The aim is to evaluate the burden of cardiac arrhythmias during a lockdown period because of COVID-19 pandemics in a population implanted with cardiac defibrillators and followed by remote monitoring.

Methods: In this retrospective, multicentre cohort study, we included 574 remotely monitored implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillator (CRT-D) recipients implanted before January 1, 2019, at seven hospitals in the Campania region, comparing the burden of arrhythmias occurred during the lockdown period because of COVID-19 epidemics (from March 9 to May 1, 2020) with the arrhythmias burden of the corresponding period in 2019 (reference period).

SGLT2-inhibitors reduce the cardiac autonomic neuropathy dysfunction and vaso-vagal syncope recurrence in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: the SCAN study.

Background: In patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) the vaso-vagal syncope (VVS) recurrence could be due to the alteration of autonomic system function, evaluated by heart rate variability (HRV), and by 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I-mIBG) myocardial scintigraphy indexes: Heart to Mediastinum ratio (H/M), and Washout rate (WR). The SGLT2-I could modulate/reduce autonomic dysfunction in T2DM patients with VVS. This effect could reduce the VVS recurrence in T2DM patients.

Angiotensin receptor/Neprilysin inhibitor effects in CRTd non-responders: From epigenetic to clinical beside.

Objectives: We evaluated whether Angiotensin receptor/Neprilysin inhibitors (ARNI) reduce heart failure (HF) hospitalizations and deaths in cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRTd) non-responders patients at 12 months of follow-up, modulating microRNAs (miRs) implied in adverse cardiac remodeling.

Background: adverse cardiac remodeling characterized by left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) reduction, left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESv) increase, and the 6-minute walking test (6MWT) reduction are relevant pathological mechanisms in CRTd non-responders and could be linked to changes in miRNAs (miRs), regulating cardiac fibrosis, apoptosis, and hypertrophy.

Methods: miRs levels and clinical outcomes (LVEF, cardiac deaths, and 6MWT) were evaluated at baseline and one year of follow-up in CRTd non-responders divided into ARNI-users and Non-ARNI users.

Exercise Training: The Holistic Approach in Cardiovascular Prevention.

Nowadays, there are robust clinical and pathophysiological evidence supporting the beneficial effects of physical activity on cardiovascular (CV) system. Thus, the physical activity is considered a key strategy for CV prevention. In fact, exercise training exerts favourable effects on all risk factors for CV diseases (i.

Ultra-high-density mapping to guide effective His-bundle pacing.

Permanent His bundle pacing is a physiological alternative to right ventricular pacing, resulting in a lower probability of pacing-induced cardiomyopathy and left ventricular ejection fraction deterioration. The combined use of UHD mapping systems allows precise and detailed information on the His bundle location, possibly providing more pacing option locations.