Carina Blomström Lundqvist

ESC Guidelines for the management of acute myocardial infarction in patients presenting with ST-segment elevation

ACE : angiotensin-converting enzyme ACS : acute coronary syndrome ADP : adenosine diphosphate AF : atrial fibrillation AMI : acute myocardial infarction AV : atrioventricular AIDA-4 : Abciximab Intracoronary vs. intravenously Drug Application APACHE II : Acute Physiology Aand Chronic

ESC Guidelines on the management of cardiovascular diseases during pregnancy: the Task Force on the Management of Cardiovascular Diseases during Pregnancy of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

Table 1. Classes of recommendation Table 2. Levels of evidence Table 3. Estimated fetal and maternal effective doses for various diagnostic and interventional radiology procedures Table 4. Predictors of maternal cardiovascular events and risk score from the CARPREG study Table 5. Predictors of maternal cardiovascular events identified in congential heart diseases in the ZAHARA and Khairy study Table 6. Modified WHO classification of maternal cardiovascular risk: principles Table 7. Modified WHO classification of maternal cardiovascular risk: application Table 8. Maternal predictors of neonatal events in women with heart disease Table 9. General recommendations Table 10. Recommendations for the management of congenital heart disease Table 11. Recommendations for the management of aortic disease Table 12. Recommendations for the management of valvular heart disease Table 13. Recommendations for the management of coronary artery disease Table 14. Recommendations for the management of cardiomyopathies and heart failure Table 15. Recommendations for the management of arrhythmias Table 16. Recommendations for the management of hypertension Table 17. Check list for risk factors for venous thrombo-embolism Table 18. Prevalence of congenital thrombophilia and the associated risk of venous thrombo-embolism during pregnancy Table 19. Risk groups according to risk factors: definition and preventive measures Table 20. Recommendations for the prevention and management of venous thrombo-embolism in pregnancy and puerperium Table 21. Recommendations for drug use ABPM : ambulatory blood pressure monitoring ACC : American College of Cardiology ACE : angiotensin-converting enzyme ACS : acute coronary syndrome AF : atrial fibrillation AHA : American Heart Association aPTT : activated partial thromboplastin time ARB : angiotensin receptor blocker AS : aortic stenosis ASD : atrial septal defect AV : atrioventricular AVSD : atrioventricular septal defect BMI : body mass index BNP : B-type natriuretic peptide BP : blood pressure CDC : Centers for Disease Control CHADS : congestive heart failure, hypertension, age (>75 years), diabetes, stroke CI : confidence interval CO : cardiac output CoA : coarction of the aorta CT : computed tomography CVD : cardiovascular disease DBP : diastolic blood pressure DCM : dilated cardiomyopathy DVT : deep venous thrombosis ECG : electrocardiogram EF : ejection fraction ESC : European Society of Cardiology ESH : European Society of Hypertension ESICM : European Society of Intensive Care Medicine FDA : Food and Drug Administration HCM : hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ICD : implantable cardioverter-defibrillator INR : international normalized ratio i.v. : intravenous LMWH : low molecular weight heparin LV : left ventricular LVEF : left ventricular ejection fraction LVOTO : left ventricular outflow tract obstruction MRI : magnetic resonance imaging MS : mitral stenosis NT-proBNP : N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide NYHA : New York Heart Association OAC : oral anticoagulant PAH : pulmonary arterial hypertension PAP : pulmonary artery pressure PCI : percutaneous coronary intervention PPCM : peripartum cardiomyopathy PS : pulmonary valve stenosis RV : right ventricular SBP : systolic blood pressure SVT : supraventricular tachycardia TGA : complete transposition of the great arteries TR : tricuspid regurgitation UFH : unfractionated heparin VSD : ventricular septal defect VT : ventricular tachycardia VTE : venous thrombo-embolism WHO : World Health Organization Guidelines summarize and evaluate all available evidence, at the time of the writing process, on a particular issue with the aim of assisting physicians in selecting the best management strategies for an individual patient, with a given condition, taking into account the impact on outcome, as well as the risk–benefit ratio of particular diagnostic or therapeutic means. Guidelines are no substitutes but are complements for textbooks and cover the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Core Curriculum topics. Guidelines and recommendations should help the …

Cardiac arrhythmias in acute coronary syndromes: position paper from the joint EHRA, ACCA, and EAPCI task force:

Cardiacarrhythmias inacutecoronarysyndromes: position paper from the joint EHRA, ACCA, and EAPCI task force Bulent Gorenek*†(Chairperson, Turkey), Carina Blomström Lundqvist†(Sweden), Josep Brugada Terradellas†(Spain), A. John Camm†(UK), Gerhard Hindricks† (Germany), Kurt Huber‡(Austria), Paulus Kirchhof†(UK), Karl-Heinz Kuck† (Germany), Gulmira Kudaiberdieva†(Turkey), Tina Lin†(Germany), Antonio Raviele† (Italy), Massimo Santini†(Italy), Roland Richard Tilz†(Germany), Marco Valgimigli (The Netherlands), Marc A. Vos†(The Netherlands), Christian Vrints‡(Belgium), and Uwe Zeymer‡(Germany)

Contemporary management of patients undergoing atrial fibrillation ablation: in-hospital and 1-year follow-up findings from the ESC-EHRA atrial fibrillation ablation long-term registry

Aims The ESC-EHRA Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Long-Term registry is a prospective, multinational study that aims at providing an accurate picture of contemporary real-world ablation for atrial fibrillation (AFib) and its outcome. Methods and results A total of 104 centres in 27 European countries participated and were asked to enrol 20–50 consecutive patients scheduled for first and re-do AFib ablation. Pre-procedural, procedural and 1-year follow-up data were captured on a web-based electronic case record form. Overall, 3630 patients were included, of which 3593 underwent an AFib ablation (98.9%). Median age was 59 years and 32.4% patients had lone atrial fibrillation. Pulmonary vein isolation was attempted in 98.8% of patients and achieved in 95–97%. AFib-related symptoms were present in 97%. In-hospital complications occurred in 7.8% and one patient died due to an atrioesophageal fistula. One-year follow-up was performed in 3180 (88.6%) at a median of 12.4 months (11.9–13.4) after ablation: 52.8% by clinical visit, 44.2% by telephone contact and 3.0% by contact with the general practitioner. At 12-months, the success rate with or without antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) was 73.6%. A significant portion (46%) was still on AADs. Late complications included 14 additional deaths (4 cardiac, 4 vascular, 6 other causes) and 333 (10.7%) other complications. Conclusion AFib ablation in clinical practice is mostly performed in symptomatic, relatively young and otherwise healthy patients. Overall success rate is satisfactory, but complication rate remains considerable and a significant portion of patients remain on AADs. Monitoring after ablation shows wide variations. Antithrombotic treatment after ablation shows insufficient guideline-adherence.

Pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation for athletic participants to prevent sudden death: Position paper from the EHRA and the EACPR, branches of the ESC. Endorsed by APHRS, HRS, and SOLAECE:

Pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation for athletic participants to prevent sudden death : Position paper from the EHRA and the EACPR, branches of the ESC. Endorsed by APHRS, HRS, and SOLAECE

Pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation for athletic participants to prevent sudden death: Position paper from the EHRA and the EACPR, branches of the ESC. Endorsed by APHRS, HRS, and SOLAECE.

AMI : acute myocardial infarction ARVC : arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy BrS : Brugada syndrome CACS : coronary artery calcium score CAD : coronary artery disease ChD : Chagas heart disease CMR : cardiac magnetic resonance CPVT : catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia CTCA : computed tomography coronary angiography CV : cardiovascular DCM : dilated cardiomyopathy EAPCR : European Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation HCM : hypertrophic cardiomyopathy LGE : late gadolinium enhancement LQTS : long QT syndrome LV/RV : left/right ventricle LVH : left ventricle hypertrophy NSVT : non-sustained ventricular tachycardia PPE : preparticipation evaluation PVC : premature ventricular contractions SCA/SCD : sudden cardiac arrest/death TTE : transthoracic echocardiography VF : ventricular fibrillation VT : ventricular tachycardia Sudden cardiac death (SCD) associated with athletic activity is a rare but devastating event. Victims are usually young and apparently healthy, and while many of these deaths remain unexplained, a substantial number of victims harbour an underlying and potentially detectable cardiovascular (CV) disease.1–4 The vast majority of these events are due to malignant tachyarrhythmias, usually ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT) degenerating into ventricular fibrillation (VF), occurring in individuals with arrhythmogenic disorders (e.g. hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, channelopathies). Intensive exercise training and competitive sport participation is a trigger that may favour insurgence of ominous ventricular tachyarrhythmias in predisposed individuals.5 Consequently, there is a great interest in early identification of at-risk individuals for whom appropriate treatment, followed or not by physical activity adjustment, may be implemented to minimize the risk of SCD. However, the role of pre-participation evaluation (PPE) in athletes as a feasible and efficient strategy to identify individuals at risk has remained controversial. …

Device-detected subclinical atrial tachyarrhythmias: definition, implications and management—an European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) consensus document, endorsed by Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS) and Sociedad Latinoamericana de Estimulación Cardíaca y Electrofisiología (SOLEACE)

Among atrial tachyarrhythmias (AT), atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia. Many patients with AT have no symptoms during brief or even extended periods of the arrhythmia, making detection in patients at risk for stroke challenging. Subclinical atrial tachyarrhythmia and asymptomatic or silent atrial tachyarrhythmia often precede the development of clinical AF. Clinical AF and subclinical atrial fibrillation (SCAF) are associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism. Indeed, in many cases, SCAF is discovered only after complications such as ischaemic stroke or congestive heart failure have occurred

CRT Survey II: a European Society of Cardiology survey of cardiac resynchronisation therapy in 11 088 patients-who is doing what to whom and how?

Cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) reduces morbidity and mortality in appropriately selected patients with heart failure and is strongly recommended for such patients by guidelines. A European Society of Cardiology (ESC) CRT survey conducted in 2008–2009 showed considerable variation in guideline adherence and large individual, national and regional differences in patient selection, implantation practice and follow‐up. Accordingly, two ESC associations, the European Heart Rhythm Association and the Heart Failure Association, designed a second prospective survey to describe contemporary clinical practice regarding CRT.

The sensitivity of transesophageal pacing for screening in atrial tachycardias

Transesophageal atrial pacing and recording performed in 128 patients for palpitations or tachycardia was retrospectively evaluated and compared to the same procedure in 77 routinely evaluated patients after a catheter ablation procedure. The sensitivity and specificity of the described protocol was 74 and 90% respectively. The procedure was well tolerated and a majority of patients could be completely evaluated according to the protocol. The outcome of the first time investigation influenced the subsequent choice of therapy in the studied population. The results suggest that transesophageal pacing is a valuable tool for evaluation of atrial tachycardias with specificity, sensitivity and tolerability comparable to other noninvasive methods used in cardiology.

Screening and risk evaluation for sudden cardiac death in ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy: results of the European Heart Rhythm Association survey

The purpose of this EHRA survey was to examine the current clinical practice of screening and risk evaluation for sudden cardiac death in ischaemic and non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy with a focus on selection of candidates for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy, timing of ICD implantation, and use of non-invasive and invasive diagnostic tests across Europe. A systematic screening programme for sudden cardiac death existed in 19 out of 31 centres (61.3%). Implantation of ICDs according to the inclusion criteria of MADIT-II and SCD-HeFT trials was reported in 30 and 29% of centres, respectively, followed by MADIT-CRT (18%), COMPANION (16%), and combined MADIT and MUSTT (7%) indications. In patients with severe renal impairment, ICD implantation for primary prevention of sudden death was always avoided in 8 centres (33.3%), was not used only if creatinine level was >2.5 mg/dL in 10 centres (32.2%), and in patients with permanent dialysis in 8 centres (33.3%). Signal-averaged electrocardiography and heart rate variability were never considered as risk stratification tools in 23 centres (74.2%). Implantation of a loop recorder was performed in patients with borderline indications for ICD therapy in 6 centres (19.4%), for research purposes in 5 (16.1%), and was never performed in 20 (64.5%) centres. In conclusion, the majority of participating European centres have a screening programme for sudden cardiac death and the selection of candidates for ICD therapy was mainly based on the clinical risk stratification and not on non-invasive and invasive diagnostic tests or implantable loop recorder use.