[Italian Study on Atrial Fibrillation (SIFA): status report]. / Studio Italiano Fibrillazione Atriale (SIFA): stato della ricerca.

Non-valvular atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke by a factor of 5 and is present in about 15% of patients with acute stroke. Its prevalence in the general population increases from 0.5% at 50-59 years to > 10% at 80-99 years. In patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation the risk of stroke increases with age, blood pressure and other evidence of cardiac disease. In addition, non-valvular atrial fibrillation is associated with a greater early mortality and a greater risk of recurrent stroke. The anticoagulant therapy to prevent early recurrent embolism is likewise controversial. Anticoagulant therapy appears to reduce this risk, but there is the danger of accentuating hemorrhagic infarction, especially in patients with large strokes. The effectiveness of antiplatelet drugs in patients with cardioembolic stroke is also not defined. The Studio Italiano Fibrillazione Atriale (SIFA) is a multicentric, randomized trial to assess the efficacy and safety of anticoagulant, warfarin, versus antiplatelet treatment, indobufen, a reversible inhibitor of platelet cyclo-oxygenase, in the prevention of recurrent cerebral ischemia and other systemic embolisms in non-valvular atrial fibrillation patients. Patients of both sexes, aged > 30 years with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, who have presented in the last 2 weeks an ischemic cerebral event (transitory ischemic attack or non-disabling stroke) and who have given their informed consent, were eligible. Patients with hemorrhagical diseases or contraindications to anticoagulant therapy were excluded. Patients were randomly given either indobufen (400 mg/die) or oral warfarin to an international normalized ratio of 2.0-3.5. The primary end-points were: recurrence of cerebral ischemia, systemic embolisms, intracranial or fatal hemorrhage, acute myocardial infarction, vascular death.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Effects of carbamazepine on heart conduction in young patients: a serial study using ambulatory ECG]. / Effetti della carbamazepina sull'eccitoconduzione cardiaca in soggetti giovani: studio seriato con ECG-dinamico.

BACKGROUND: Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a first-line drug in the treatment of epileptic seizures and neuralgia. CBZ is also a cardioactive drug and sometimes induces sinusal dysfunction or AV conduction defects. METHODS: In order to investigate the effect of CBZ on sinus node function and AV conduction, long-term ECG recording (24 hours) and determination of plasma concentration of CBZ were carried out in 10 epileptic patients without heart disorders (5 males and 5 females, mean age 31 years), in the basal state, during steady-state (7th day) and after 30th day of CBZ treatment. The number of total cardiac beats, mean heart rate, P-Q and Q-T interval, sinus-atrial node and atrioventricular dysfunction and intraventricular conduction delay were evaluated. RESULTS: Plasma CBZ concentration was always in the therapeutic range (5-12 micrograms/ml): 9.5 micrograms/ml in the 7th day and 7.8 micrograms/ml in the 30th day. No significant differences in the number of cardiac beats, or P-Q and Q-T intervals were found; there was no depression of sinus node function nor delay of AV conduction. In the basal state, ectopic supraventricular beats (105 +/- 20/24 hours) were observed in 7 patients and repetitive in five of them. In the first Holter ECG recording during CBZ treatment, a strong reduction of ectopic supraventricular beats (6 +/- 3/24 hours) and disappearance of the bursts was observed. In the second control, when the CBZ concentration was lower, the number of ectopic supraventricular beats were moderately increased (30 +/- 8/24 hours) and in one patient supraventricular tachycardia reappeared. CONCLUSIONS: In young epileptic subjects without signs of heart disease, CBZ seems to have no significant effect on conduction, yet has a possible antiarrhythmic effect.