Management of atrial fibrillation in patients with heart failure.

BACKGROUND: There is a well-documented relationship and a complex interaction between atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure. The coexistence of these 2 clinical entities renders their management even more challenging. METHODS AND RESULTS: We searched current literature to review the management of AF in patients with heart failure. The cornerstones of AF treatment are rate control, cardioversion, and maintenance of sinus rhythm (SR), and prevention of thromboembolism. The issue of rhythm versus rate control remains unresolved. Nonpharmacologic therapies such as radiofrequency catheter ablation of the atrioventricular node with permanent pacemaker implantation, curative catheter ablation of AF, and cardiac resynchronization therapy are emerging and may alter the management of these patients. CONCLUSION: Treatment of atrial fibrillation in the setting of heart failure encompasses a variety of approaches including drugs, devices, and ablation. Larger randomized trials are required to clarify the management of such patients.

Studies on apoptosis and fibrosis in skeletal musculature: a comparison of heart failure patients with and without cardiac cachexia.

Apoptosis has been found in skeletal muscles of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and has been associated with exercise intolerance. In CHF, cachexia is characterized by neurohormonal activation and muscle wasting. Neurohormonal activation can lead to cell death and fibrosis. The purpose of the study was to determine the severity of apoptosis and fibrosis in skeletal muscles of patients with CHF and cachexia and its relationship to exercise intolerance in these patients. Skeletal muscle biopsies of 21 patients with CHF (eight with cachexia) and four healthy controls of similar age have been studied by in situ end labeling (ISEL) for apoptosis and by the Picrosirius Red technique for collagen. Apoptosis in skeletal muscles was detected by ISEL in 52% of the patients with CHF (11 out of 21) and in none of the controls. CHF patients with apoptosis-positive skeletal muscles had impaired exercise tolerance (peak oxygen consumption 11.4+/-5.7 vs. 16.91+/-6.6, P=0.029). Increased collagen was detected by Picrosirius Red in eight out of 21 patients with CHF and in none of the controls. Increased collagen (fibrosis) was detected in six out of eight patients with cachexia and in two out of 13 patients without cachexia (P=0.01). Peak oxygen consumption and apoptosis were similar in cachectic and non-cachectic patients. Thus, the skeletal musculature of patients with cardiac cachexia is characterised by the presence of fibrosis. Apoptosis was not found to be more frequent in cachectic CHF patients. Our data support the hypothesis that cachexia contributes by a different mechanism to skeletal muscle myopathy of CHF patients and different mechanisms are implicated in deterioration of exercise tolerance and progression to cardiac cachexia.

The Contribution of the Left Atrioventricular Plane Displacement During Low Dose Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography in Predicting Recovery of Left Ventricular Dyssynergies.

The aim of this study was to assess the significance of the left systolic atrioventricular (AV) plane displacement during low dose dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE), in predicting the recovery of left ventricular dyssynergies after revascularization. In 30 infarctiers with left ventricular dysfunction scheduled for RE (14 percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and 16 coronary artery bypass graft) and in 25 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects, a DSE, using a 16 ventricular segment model and a four-grade scoring system for the assessment of regional wall motion of the left ventricle was performed. Prior and during DSE, the left systolic AV plane displacement was recorded from the apical four- and two-chamber views, by M-mode echo, at four left ventricular sites, corresponding to the septal, lateral, anterior, and inferior walls, both in patients and controls. The study was repeated in all patients 101 +/- 14 days after successful revascularization. Healthy subjects showed a significant increase of left systolic AV plane displacement at all left ventricular sites during dobutamine infusion (DI) (P < 0.001). Patients also exhibited a significant maximum increase of left systolic AV plane displacement during DSE only in the dyssynergic sites with functional improvement in the postrevascularization echocardiogram (P < 0.001). In the remaining dyssynergic sites, without functional improvement after revascularization, the left systolic AV plane displacement did not change (P > 0.05). Selecting a maximum LAVPD increase of >2 mm at any site of the left ventricule to predict recovery of the regional ventricular dyssynergies, results in a sensitivity of 91%, specificity of 83%, positive predictive value of 88%, and negative predictive value of 87%. When two-dimensional DSE was used for the detection of reversible dysfunction, sensitivity and specificity were found to be 81.5% and 87.5%, respectively, while the positive and negative predictive values were 90% and 78%, respectively. When the two methods were in agreement the sensitivity was 90%, the specificity 100%, and the positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 84.2%, respectively. The assessment of left systolic AV plane displacement during DI constitutes a new, simple, and accurate method in the prediction of left ventricular dyssynergy recovery after revascularization. The combination of this method and two-dimensional DSE are basic predictor markers of viability of dysfunctional myocardium. (ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Volume 13, November 1996)