New Advances in Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation: Proceedings of the Mediterranean Cardiology Meeting (Taormina, April 10–12, 2003)

Front Matter....Pages I-XVII
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Sudden Death Prevention in Heart Failure: What Role for ICD?....Pages 3-6
Front Matter....Pages 7-7
Incidence and Diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Heart Failure....Pages 9-11
Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in Chronic Heart Failure Patients: Facts or Fancy?....Pages 13-16
Drugs and Ablation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure....Pages 17-21
Drugs and Pacemakers in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure....Pages 23-25
Can Ventricular Resynchronization Reduce Atrial Fibrillation Recurrences?....Pages 27-32
Management of Atrial Fibrillation Suppression in AF-HF Comorbidity Therapy (MASCOT) Trial....Pages 33-37
Risk-Stratification in Heart Failure Patients with Varying Disease Severity....Pages 39-60
Risk Stratification in Atrial Fibrillation and Congestive Heart Failure....Pages 61-64
Physiopathology of Sudden Cardiac Death....Pages 65-73
Drugs and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure....Pages 75-79
New ICD Perspectives in the Congestive Heart Failure Patient....Pages 81-92
Type of Therapy and Quality of Life in Atrial Fibrillation....Pages 93-98
Front Matter....Pages 99-99
Non-Invasive Evaluation and Early Treatment of Heart Failure Patients....Pages 101-116
ACE-Inhibitors, β-Blockers, Spironolactone: Do We Need Many More Drugs to Treat Chronic Heart Failure?....Pages 117-121
The Problem of Recreational Sport in Patients with Mild to Moderate Heart Failure....Pages 123-129
Wireless Home Monitoring in Permanent Cardiac Stimulation: is it Especially Suitable in Congestive Heart Failure Patients?....Pages 131-137
Electromagnetic Interference in Biventricular and/or ICD Paced Patients....Pages 139-149
Organizational and Economic Aspects of the Management of Congestive Heart Failure....Pages 151-154
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
Atrial Fibrillation: New Insights into Electrophysiologic Mechanisms....Pages 157-165
Front Matter....Pages 155-155
Pharmacological Therapy of Atrial Fibrillation and Flutter: Advances and Limitations of Specific Antiarrhythmic Drugs....Pages 167-172
Rhythm Control Versus Rate Control: Unresolved Riddle in Daily Clinical Practice....Pages 173-178
The AFFIRM Study and Its Implications for the Pharmacological Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation....Pages 179-181
Amiodarone in the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation: New Perspectives from Clinical Trials....Pages 183-190
Drugs as Pretreatment before Electrical Cardioversion....Pages 191-195
Atrial Fibrillation and Flutter: the Latest from the Planet of Right Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation....Pages 197-200
Impact of Localisa on Ablation Management....Pages 201-204
Pacing in Atrial Fibrillation: Therapies for Rhythm Control....Pages 205-208
Pacing in Atrial Fibrillation: Therapies for Rate Control....Pages 209-213
Device Therapy for Atrial Arrhythmias: Latest Topics from the AT500 Italian Registry....Pages 215-222
Antiarrhythmic Agents in Atrial Fibrillation: A New Role in the Context of a Hybrid Approach?....Pages 223-226
Front Matter....Pages 227-227
The Electrophysiological Aspect....Pages 229-232
Pharmacological Trials on Heart Failure: What Can We Translate into Daily Clinical Practice?....Pages 233-236
Selection of Patients for Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy....Pages 237-241
The Perspective of the Emergency Department....Pages 243-245
Ventricular Pacing in Congestive Heart Failure: The Role of the Internist....Pages 247-248
Role of Electrical Therapy in Patients with Left Ventricular Dysfunction: The Clinical Cardiologist’s Experience....Pages 249-255
Echocardiography in the Identification of Responders:The Novel Role of Tissue Doppler Imaging and Strain Imaging....Pages 257-261
How to Follow Resynchronized Paced Patients....Pages 263-266
Which Congestive Heart Failure Patient Needs to Be Studied in Haemodynamic Laboratory and When?....Pages 267-275
Front Matter....Pages 227-227
Biventricular Pacing with ICD Backup: A Luxury or a Necessity?....Pages 277-280
Biventricular Cardiac Resynchronization in Moderate-to-Severe Heart Failure: Analysis of Hospital Costs and Clinical Effectiveness (Brescia Study)....Pages 281-286
Front Matter....Pages 287-287
Atrial Fibrillation and Flutter: Sympathetic Nervous System and Arrhythmogenesis....Pages 289-292
Current Approach and Treatment in Acute Atrial Fibrillation....Pages 293-304
Role of the Implantable Loop Recorder in the Management of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation....Pages 305-316
Cardioversion of Recent-Onset Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation to Sinus Rhythm in the Emergency Department: Comparison of Intravenous Drugs....Pages 317-320
Is Fluoroscopic Electrode Positioning Improving the Clinical Efficacy of External Biphasic Cardioversion in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation?....Pages 321-324
Is Transesophageal Echocardiography Always Necessary Before Cardioversion of AF Patients After Conventional Anticoagulation Therapy?....Pages 325-328
Anticoagulation Therapy of Atrial Fibrillation in the Elderly....Pages 329-334
Is There Still a Role for Right Atrial Ablation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation?....Pages 335-338
Present Role and Future Perspectives of Radiofrequency Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation....Pages 339-342
Atrial Pacing Algorithms for the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation....Pages 343-350
Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients Affected by Sick Sinus Syndrome: Role of Prevention and Antitachycardia Pacing Algorithms. Preliminary Results from PITAGORA Study....Pages 351-358
Recent and Ongoing Trials on Device Therapy of Atrial Fibrillation....Pages 359-370
Front Matter....Pages 389-389
Criteria for Selection of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation to Receive a Dual-Site ICD....Pages 371-374
Pacing, ICD, or Both for the Hybrid Therapy of Atrial Arrhythmias?....Pages 375-381
Surgical Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation During Mitral Valve Surgery....Pages 383-388
What Have We Learned from Cardiac Resynchronization Trials?....Pages 391-394
A Review of the SCD-HEFT, COMPANION, and CARE-HF Trials....Pages 395-400
Dual-Site Right Ventricular Pacing In Heart Failure Patients....Pages 401-404
Front Matter....Pages 389-389
Biventricular Pacing: A Simplified Technique for Transvenous Implantation....Pages 405-409
Optimization of Resynchronization Therapy by Intracardiac Ventricular Impedance....Pages 411-415
Benefits of Closed Loop Stimulation in Resynchronization Therapy....Pages 417-420
Clinical Issues in the Ventricular Synchronization Therapy of Heart Failure....Pages 421-428
New Advances in Biventricular Pacing: Improving Ventricular Sensing Function....Pages 429-434
Role of “Single Shock” ICD for Primary Prevention of Sudden Death in Heart Failure Patients....Pages 435-439
Back Matter....Pages 441-443