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Prieširdžių virpėjimas (PV) dažniausiai klinikinėje praktikoje pasitaikanti širdies aritmija. PV dažnis populiacijoje – 0,4–1 proc. ir su amžiumi didėja, o tarp vyresnių nei 80 metų žmonių išauga iki 8 proc. Per pastaruosius 20 metų hospitalizavimo dėl PV atvejų padaugėjo 66 proc. PV metu išnyksta normali prieširdžių sistolė, vyksta prieširdžių remodeliavimasis, širdies ertmėse susidaro trombai, trinka hemodinamika. Tai susiję su sunkiomis komplikacijomis: širdies funkcijos nepakankamumu, insultu ir padidėjusiu mirštamumu. Veiksmingiausias PV nutraukimo būdas – elektrinė kardioversija, kuri klinikinėje praktikoje taikoma nuo 1962 m. Darbo tikslas – įvertinti prieširdžių virpėjimo gydymą elektrine kardioversija ir veiksnius, sąlygojančius jos efektyvumą. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti veiksnius, turinčius įtakos elektrinės kardioversijos efektyvumui. 2. Nustatyti ir įvertinti optimalią pradinio elektros impulso energiją, reikalingą prieširdžių virpėjimui nutraukti. 3. Nustatyti veiksnius, turinčius įtakos ankstyvajam prieširdžių virpėjimo atkryčiui po elektrinės kardioversijos. 4. Įvertinti veiksnius, nulemiančius elektrinės kardioversijos komplikacijas. Kauno medicinos universiteto Kardiologijos klinikos Kardiologijos intensyviosios terapijos skyriuje 2005–2007 m. atliktas prospektyvusis atsitiktinių imčių klinikinis tyrimas. Ištirta 224 prieširdžių virpėjimu sergančių pacientų, kuriems nuspręsta taikyti elektrinę kardioversiją sinusinio ritmo atkūrimui. Atsitiktinai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in clinical practice. AF occurs in 0.4 – 1 % of population and its frequency increases with age and reaches 8 % above 80 years age. During the last 20 years hospitalization for AF rate increased by 66 %. In AF normal atrial systole does not occur, atrial remodeling starts, intracardiac thrombi start forming, haemodynamics becomes compromised. That leads serious complications – heart failure, stroke and increased mortality rate. The most effective AF termination method is direct current cardioversion, which has been used in clinical practice since 1962. The aim of the study was to evaluate the treatment of atrial fibrillation by direct current cardioversion and to identify the factors, contributing to its effectiveness. The objectives of the study: 1. To identify the factors, contributing to the effectiveness of direct current cardioversion. 2. To estimate and to evaluate the optimal energy of the initial electrical impulse required to terminate atrial fibrillation. 3. To identify the factors, contributing to immediate recurrence of atrial fibrillation after successful direct current cardioversion. 4. To evaluate the factors, influencing complications after direct current cardioversion. A prospective randomized clinical trial has been held in Intensive Care Unit of the Department of Cardiology of Kaunas Medical University Hospital between 2005 and 2007. We examined 224 patients with AF, selected for electrical... [to full text]

Background: The Framingham Study from 1991 showed a clear correlation between atrial fibrillation (AF) and ischemic stroke, where patients with AF had an almost fivefold increase in risk of stroke compared with patients without AF. Since then, several trials have evaluated different antithrombotic treatments to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with AF. Other trials have investigated factors that increase the risk of stroke in patients with AF and risk score systems have been developed to categorize patients into low or increased risk of stroke to help clinicians to decide which patients benefit from antithrombotic treatment and in whom it can be abstained, not to expose patients with low stroke risk to an increased risk of bleeding conferred by antithrombotic treatment. The aims of this thesis were: [1] to evaluate if a warfarin dosing algorithm can increase hit rate and decrease mean error compared with manually changed doses; [2] to assess the prevalence and net clinical benefit of aspirin as monotherapy for stroke prevention in AF; [3] to investigate the risk of thromboembolic and haemorrhagic complications within 30 days after electrical cardioversion (ECV) of AF in patients with and without oral anticoagulation (OAC) pre-treatment; and [4] to assess the proportion of patients discontinuing OAC after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), identify factors predicting stroke after PVI and to investigate risk of complications after PVI with and without OAC. Materials and methods: All studies are retrospective and based on data from Swedish national quality registries. In paper I, data from Auricula was used to compare the resulting INR values after algorithmic warfarin dose suggestions and manually changed doses. In paper II data was extracted from the Swedish National Patient Register, the Dispensed Drugs Register and the Cause of Death Register. Patients with aspirin treatment were compared with patients without any antithrombotic treatment regarding risk of thromboembolic and haemorrhagic complications. In paper III data was collected from the Swedish National Patient Register and the Dispensed Drugs Register to examine risk of complications (thromboembolic and haemorrhagic events) within 30 days after cardioversion, comparing patients with and without oral anticoagulation pre-treatment. In paper IV data from six different Swedish national quality registries were used (Swedish Catheter Ablation Register, Auricula, Swedish National Patient Register, Dispensed Drugs Register, Cause of Death Register and Riksstroke). Patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) were investigated for adherence to guidelines regarding oral anticoagulation, predictors for stroke after PVI, as well as risk of ischemic stroke or intracranial haemorrhage after PVI in patients with and without treatment. Results: Paper I showed that a computerized dosing algorithm for warfarin in most cases perform as well or better compared with doses that have been changed manually, with a better hit-rate (0.72 vs. 0.67) and a lower mean error (0.44 vs. 0.48). Paper II showed that 32% of 182.678 patients with a diagnosis of AF were on monotherapy with aspirin for stroke prevention. A total of 115.185 patients were included, 58.671 with aspirin treatment and 56.514 without antithrombotic treatment at baseline. After stratification after CHA2DS2-VASc score and after multivariable adjustment, aspirin treatment did not confer a decrease in thromboembolic events. After propensity score mathcing, rate of ischemic stroke was 7.4%/year (95% CI 7.1-7.6) in aspirin treated patients and 6.6%/year (95% CI 6.4-6.9) in patients without antithrombotic treatment. In paper III 22.874 patients undergoing electrical cardioversion were included, 10.722 with and 12.152 without OAC pre-treatment. In patients with low stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc 0-1), no thromboembolic complication was seen within 30 days after cardioversion. In patients with CHA2DS2-VASc ≥2, the risk of thromboembolic complications was increased when no oral anticoagulation pre-treatment was used, results that remained after propensity score matching. No difference regarding haemorrhagic complications was seen. Paper IV included a total of 1585 patients undergoing PVI with a mean follow up of 2.6 years. Adherence to current guidelines regarding oral anticoagulation was good in patients with CHA2DS2-VASc ≥2. Previous ischemic stroke was a predictor for a new stroke after PVI. In patients with CHA2DS2-VASc ≥2 stroke risk was increased in patients discontinuing OAC compared to those continuing OAC (1,60%/year vs. 0.34%/year). Conclusion: Oral anticoagulation is still underutilized for prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation. Patients with risk factors for stroke (CHA2DS2-VASc ≥2p) benefit from continuous oral anticoagulation treatment to prevent stroke, also in conjunction with electrical cardioversion and after pulmonary vein isolation. If warfarin is chosen, a computerised dosing algorithm can facilitate and standardize warfarin dosing and lead to better resulting INR values than manually changed doses. Aspirin should not be used for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia. There is a need for new pharmacological treatment strategies since the current antiarrhythmic drugs have a modest efficacy and may have severe side effects. Cardioversion (CV) of AF offers an opportunity to study related conditions in sinus rhythm (SR) and during AF. Since catheter ablation of AF is a symptomatic treatment, it is important to have tools for measurement of arrhythmia-related symptoms. Aims: To evaluate the effect of atorvastatin on maintaining SR after CV of persistent AF. To assess if highsensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) predicts the recurrence of AF after CV in a population randomized to treatment with either atorvastatin or placebo. To quantify the symptomatic effect of left atrial catheter ablation of AF. To assess if the restoration of SR by CV, in a population with persistent AF, affects sleep apnea. Methods: Paper I: A total of 234 patients were randomized to treatment with either high dose atorvastatin or placebo prior to CV. Paper II: In a pre-specified substudy which included 128 of the patients in study I, hsCRP was analyzed before and after CV. Paper III: Umea 22 Arrhythmia Questions (U22) is a questionnaire that quantifies paroxysmal tachycardia symptoms. A total of 105 patients underwent first-time pulmonary vein isolation and answered U22 forms at baseline and follow-up 304 (SD 121) days after ablation. Paper IV: Polysomnography was performed before and after CV in 23 patients with persistent AF scheduled for elective CV. Results: Paper I: An intention-to-treat analysis with the available data, by randomization group, showed that 57 (51%) in the atorvastatin group and 47 (42%) in the placebo group were in SR 30 days after CV (OR 1.44, 95%CI 0.85–2.44, P=0.18). Paper II: HsCRP did not significantly predict recurrence of AF at 30 days. However, after adjusting for treatment with atorvastatin, hsCRP predicted the recurrence of AF (OR 1.14, 95% CI 1.01–1.27). Six months after CV, hsCRP at randomization predicted recurrence of AF in both univariate analysis (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.06–1.60) and in multivariate logistic regression analysis (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.06– 1.67). Paper III: The U22 scores for well-being, arrhythmia as cause for impaired well-being, derived timeaspect score for arrhythmia, and discomfort during attack detected relevant improvements of symptoms after the ablation. U22 showed larger improvement in patients undergoing only one procedure than in patients who later underwent repeated interventions. Paper IV: Obstructive sleep apnea occurred in 17/23 patients (74%), and central sleep apnea in 6/23 patients (26%). Five patients had both obstructive and central sleep apnea. SR at follow-up was achieved in 16 patients. The obstructive apnea-hypopnea index, central apneahypopnea index, and the number of patients with obstructive or central sleep apnea did not differ before and after restoration of SR. Conclusions: Atorvastatin is not a treatment option with regards to maintaining SR after CV in patients with persistent AF. HsCRP was associated with AF recurrence 1 and 6 months after successful CV of persistent AF. U22 quantifies the symptomatic improvement after AF ablation with adequate internal consistency and construct validity. Both obstructive and central sleep apneas are highly prevalent in patients with persistent AF. Obstructive sleep apneas are unaffected by the CV of AF to SR.

The transthoracic application of synchronized direct current cardioversion (DCC) is widely used to terminate atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and other supraventricular tachyarrhythmia. DCC is a highly effective method for acute restoration of sinus rhythm. Although DCC is a relatively safe and frequently performed procedure, data on potential side effects are very rarely reported in the literature. The most serious complications associated with DCC are thromboembolism and intracranial hemorrhage. The true incidence of postcardioversion pulmonary edema is not known, but it is estimated to occur in 1%to 3% of patients, particularly those with coexistent heart disease. We report on a patient with a structurally normal heart who developed acute pulmonary edema after undergoing DCC. The patient had no evidence of myocardial injury according to an electrocardiogram and cardiac biomarkers. The patient was treated with intravenous diuretics. After 4 days, the pulmonary edema resolved.

The relationship of statin therapy with recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after cardioversion (CV) has been evaluated by several investigations, which provided conflicting results and particularly long-term data is scarce. We sought to examine whether upstream statin therapy is associated with long-term recurrence of AF after CV. This was a single-center registry study including consecutive AF patients (n = 454) undergoing CV. Cox regression models were performed to estimate AF recurrence comparing patients with and without statins. In addition, we performed a propensity score matched analysis with a 1:1 ratio. Statins were prescribed to 183 (40.3%) patients. After a median follow-up period of 373 (207–805) days, recurrence of AF was present in 150 (33.0%) patients. Patients receiving statins had a significantly lower rate of AF recurrence (log-rank p < 0.001). In univariate analysis, statin therapy was associated with a significantly reduced rate of AF recurrence (HR 0.333 (95% CI 0.225–0.493), p = 0.001), which remained significant after adjustment (HR 0.238 (95% CI 0.151–0.375), p < 0.001). After propensity score matching treatment with statins resulted in an absolute risk reduction of 27.5% for recurrent AF (21 (18.1%) vs. 53 (45.7%); p < 0.001). Statin therapy was associated with a reduced risk of long-term AF recurrence after successful cardioversion.

Nursing care continuing the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias is an inseparable part of the patient?s care. As there are various types of arrhythmias and different types of treatment, similarly, the subsequent nursing care has its specifics as well. It relates not only to the post-treatment care but also to pre-surgery preparation and subsequent education. The theoretical part of the thesis contains the information on arrhythmias, their development and treatment. Organizations associating nurses working in arrhythmologic centres are mentioned as well. The practical part consists of the survey research. The quantitative enquiry is conducted in arrhythmologic centres by means of questionnaires addressing the nurses. The qualitative part contains interviews with patients who underwent some of the types of cardiac arrhythmia treatment. The objective of the thesis was to find out whether the nurses are aware of the specifics of the nursing care that follows the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia, in which stage the treatment is the most demanding for nurses and whether they can apply standardized nursing procedures in their work. Another objective is focused on mapping of the educative activity within the nursing care. Interviews with the patients are aimed at the areas of admission, prior to surgery, after surgery and during education. They should outline the view from ?the other side?. All the defined hypotheses were confirmed. The cardinal hypothesis of the thesis was the assumption that nurses, when providing nursing care to patients undergoing treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, do not work according to standardized nursing procedures. Subsequently, a draft of standardized nursing procedure focused on nursing care of patients undergoing implantation of a permanent cardiostimulator was prepared ? it could be applied in the University Hospital in Plzeň where most of the enquiry was conducted.

Il existe une association étroite entre la santé cardiovasculaire et la santé cognitive au cours du vieillissement. Bien que la recherche dans le domaine de la santé cardiovasculaire soit vaste, le lien entre l'électrophysiologie cardiaque et la cognition est peu étudié. La présente thèse met en évidence les liens entre l'électrophysiologie cardiaque et la cognition en examinant la régulation autonomique chez les individus sains et des marqueurs de maladie chez les patients souffrant de fibrillation auriculaire (FA ; maladie du rythme cardiaque la plus prévalente). Les résultats présentés dans le chapitre 2 démontrent pour une première fois qu'un marqueur de repolarisation cardiaque, le QTcD, est lié aux performances cognitives (fonctions globales et exécutives) chez des personnes âgées sédentaires en bonne santé. Ces observations étaient plus évidentes chez les personnes présentant des valeurs élevées de QTcD, suggérant que des altérations plus importantes du rythme cardiaque pourraient avoir une association plus forte avec les performances cognitives. Les résultats présentés au chapitre 3 montrent que chez les patients souffrant de FA, une plus grande morbidité (mesurée par le sous-type de FA) serait associée à une performance cognitive plus faible (fonctions globales et exécutives). Cette même étude démontre que le volume de l'oreillette gauche agît comme facteur modérateur de l’association entre le sous-type de FA et la performance cognitive. Ceci suggère que plus l'arythmie est sévère, plus le déficit cognitif observé est important. Le chapitre 4 présente les résultats d'une étude pilote portant sur les changements dans les performances cognitives et l'oxygénation régionale du tissu cérébral chez les patients souffrant de FA qui subissent une cardioversion électrique (une procédure visant à rétablir du rythme sinusal). Les résultats de cette étude pilote montrent qu'un tel devis est effectivement réalisable et pourrait permettre de détecter des changements cognitifs dans cet échantillon. Bien que la modification de l'oxygénation du tissu cérébral en lien avec la cardioversion n’ait pas été démontrée pour le moment, des changements au niveau de la cognition ont été observé, ce qui pourrait être partiellement expliqué par la réduction des symptômes liés à la FA post-cardioversion. Parmi toutes les capacités cognitives, la flexibilité (mesurée par le Trail-Making Test) semble être plus sensible aux détériorations du rythme cardiaque, tant chez les individus sains que chez les patients souffrant de FA, dans toutes les études présentées. Les résultats sont discutés dans le contexte d'un continuum cœur-cerveau dans lequel les détériorations du cœur ou du cerveau peuvent avoir des impacts bidirectionnels et altérer davantage le fonctionnement de cet axe. Les orientations futures porteront sur les avantages potentiels de la prévention cognitive par l'exercice et la stimulation cognitive chez les personnes présentant des détériorations électrophysiologiques cardiaques. / There is a close association between cardiovascular and cognitive health in aging. While the cardiovascular health domain is vast, the link between cardiac electrophysiology and cognition is understudied. The present thesis will bring evidence linking cardiac electrophysiology and cognition by looking at autonomic regulation in healthy older individuals and disease markers in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF; most prevalent disease of heart rhythm). Chapter 2 shows for the first time that a cardiac repolarization marker, QTcD, is linked to cognitive performance (global and executive functions) in healthy sedentary older individuals. This relationship was more evident in individuals with elevated QTcD values suggesting that higher impairments in cardiac rhythm might have stronger association with cognitive performance. Results presented in Chapter 3 show that among patients with AF, higher disease burden (as measured by the subtype of AF) was associated with lower cognitive performance (global and executive functions). The study also found that the left atrial volume was a moderator of this association between AF subtype and cognitive performance. This shows that the more severe the condition is the higher the cognitive deficit observed. Chapter 4 shows the results of a pilot study investigating the changes in cognitive performance and regional cerebral tissue oxygenation in AF patients undergoing electrical cardioversion (a sinus rhythm restoration procedure). The pilot results show that such a study is indeed feasible and could detect cognitive changes in this sample. While the change in cerebral tissue oxygenation is unconclusive at this moment, the recorded change in cognition could partially be explained by the reduction in AF related symptoms. Among all cognitive abilities, switching (as measured with the Trail-Making Test) appears to be more sensitive to deteriorations in heart rhythm both in healthy individuals and patients with AF across all studies presented. The results are discussed in the context of a heart-brain continuum in which deteriorations from either the heart or the brain can have bidirectional impacts and further impair the functioning of this axis. Future directions will address the potential benefit of cognitive prevention through exercise and cognitive stimulation in older individuals with cardiac electrophysiological deteriorations.

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