A total of 78 patients were included (median age 83.5, 39% female), among whom 35 patients (45%) received a PPM following EPS. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the EPS-guided PPM implantation strategy were 100%, 89.6%, 81.5%, and 100%, respectively. Six patients suffered a mechanical HAVB during EPS and received a PPM. These 6 patients showed PPM dependency at follow-up. In conclusion, an EPS-guided PPM implantation strategy for managing post-TAVI conduction disturbances appears effective to identify patients who can be safely discharged without PPM implantation.Guidelines suggest differential management of diabetics and nondiabetics with coronary artery disease (CAD) referred for revascularization, but pre-diabetics, who now comprise up to 20% to 30% of CAD patients, have been excluded from the diabetic group. To address this, we studied long-term cardiac outcomes in 1,323 consecutively drug-eluting stent (DES)-stented patients from prespecified local zip codes, dividing patients into normal-glycemic patients, prediabetics and diabetics, based upon conventional definitions. Patient age was 63±11 years, 65.5% male, mean baseline SYNTAX score of 10.2±6.8 and residual SYNTAX score=3.0±4.6. Only 2.9% of patients were lost to follow up at 10 years. Duration of follow up for alive patients was 124±33 mos. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) by Kaplan Meier (KM) was similar for normal glycemics and prediabetics (42.9±2.5% vs 38.6±3.1% at 10 years, p=0.35), whereas that for diabetics was worse (56.7±2.6% at 10 years, p less then 0.001 vs prediabetics). KM cardiac death rates at 10 years were 14.2±1.8%, 16.0±2.4% and 31.2±2.3% for normal glycemics, prediabetics, and diabetics, respectively (p=0.34 and p less then 0.001 [covariate adjusted p=0.018] for prediabetics versus normal glycemics and versus diabetics, respectively). We found that prediabetics have long-term post-DES outcomes far more similar to those of normal-glycemic patients than diabetics.Catheter ablation is an effective treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF). Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a known risk factor for recurrent AF. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) is a measurement tool to screen patients for OSA. We sought to evaluate if the ambulatory assessed AHI is associated with AF recurrence following AF catheter ablation. 187 patients with paroxysmal (n = 155) or early persistent (n = 32) AF presenting for catheter ablation were included in the study. AHI was determined prior to ablation using an ambulatory screening device. All patients underwent pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). In patients with early persistent AF (17%) additional ablation of complex fractionated atrial electrograms (CFAE) was performed. Clinical follow-up was available after 3 and 12 months including 7-day Holter-ECG. All 187 patients (60.3 ± 11.4 years, 64.2% male) completed the 3 months follow-up and 170 patients the 12 months follow-up. A pathological AHI ≥15 was found in 45/187 (24.1%) patients. Additional CFAE did not differ between patients with an AHI ≥15 and AHI less then 15 (p = 0.663). After 3 months, 12/41 (29.3%) patients with AHI ≥15 showed recurrent AF compared to 24/146 (16.4%) patients with AHI less then 15 (p = 0.066). After 12 months, AHI ≥15 was associated with a significant higher rate of AF recurrence of 47.4% (18/38) versus 26.5% (35/132) in patients with AHI less then 15 (p = 0.014). In the logistic regression analysis AHI ≥15 was an independent predictor of recurrent AF at 12 months (p = 0.011). In conclusion, ambulatory assessed AHI ≥15 is associated with increased risk for AF recurrence following catheter ablation. OSA screening should be performed in AF patients as it might influence catheter ablation success.Described herein are three patients with refractory ventricular tachycardia and one or more unsuccessful ablation procedures finally leading to orthotropic heart transplantation (OHT). The latter procedure allowed examination of the ventricular ablation sites, an unusual opportunity reported previously in few patients (all case reports). The acute ablation lesions are unique, with necrosis of the myocardial fibers adjacent to the endocardium and encircled by layers of extravasated erythrocytes in the deeper myocardial wall. All 3 patients returned to normal activities following the OHT.Knowledge of the long-term prognosis (>10 years) and mortality predictors of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients who have undergone primary percutaneous coronary intervention (p-PCI) is scarce. Therefore, this study evaluated the long-term prognosis and determined the predictors of long-term outcomes for STEMI patients after p-PCI. Between January, 2006 and December, 2010, we collected data and analyzed 459 consecutive patients with acute STEMI who underwent p-PCI and were discharged from the hospital (mean age, 66.8 years; male, 75.2%; peak creatine phosphokinase level, 2,292.5 IU/L).  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/rocaglamide.html  The primary endpoint was 10-year all-cause mortality. The cumulative 10-year incidence of all-cause death was 23.8%. The Cox multivariate regression analysis identified age ≥ 65 years (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], p less then 0.001), body mass index (aHR, 0.93, p = 0.033), presence of atrial fibrillation (aHR, 1.69, p = 0.038), mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist use (aHR, 1.95, p = 0.008), ejection fraction less then 40% (aHR, 2.14, p = 0.005), and albumin less then 3.5 g/dL (aHR, 2.01, p = 0.005) as independent predictors of all-cause mortality. In conclusion, a post-discharge 10-year survival rate of 76.2% was identified for STEMI patients who underwent p-PCI.The rationale for dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is to facilitate endothelialization of metallic struts of the transcatheter heart valve and to prevent thrombosis that could lead to thromboembolic events. Based on expert consensus, current societal guidelines recommend DAPT for 1 to 6 months after TAVI with weak evidence. Although the pivotal TAVI trials mandated this regimen, the evidence for the efficacy of DAPT to prevent transcatheter heart valve thrombosis is limited to 3 small trials and a handful of observational studies. Multiple coronary trials have demonstrated that DAPT is associated with increased bleeding in comparison with single antiplatelet therapy, especially in elderly patients. TAVI patients are predominantly elderly and frequently have risk factors that predispose them to bleeding. Herein, we summarize the evidence for antiplatelet therapy after TAVI and explore the theoretical benefit of DAPT to prevent thromboembolic events versus the risk of increased bleeding.