In this trial, AVJAP for patients with mild to moderately symptomatic permanent AF did not worsen cardiac function during long-term follow-up, and quality of life was improved.

Patients with atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter (AF) are candidates for radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation of the atrioventricular (AV) node with the aim being to control heart rate. As patients with AF can have markedly impaired ventricular function, information concerning the hemodynamic effects of AV node ablation using RF current would be valuable. Fourteen consecutive patients (mean age 65 +/- 3 years) with drug-resistant AF underwent AV node catheter ablation with RF current and had permanent pacemaker implantation. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) by two-dimensional echocardiography immediately before ablation was 42 +/- 3% (range 14%-54%) and their mean exercise time was 4.4 +/- 0.4 minutes. Complete AV block was achieved in all 14 patients with 6 +/- 2 RF applications (range 1-18). There was no evidence of any acute cardiodepressant effect associated with delivery of RF current, and EF 3 days after ablation was 44 +/- 4%. By 6 weeks after ablation, the left ventricular EF was significantly improved compared to baseline (47 +/- 4% postablation vs 42 +/- 3% preablation; P < 0.05), and this modest increase in EF was accompanied by an improvement in exercise time (5.4 +/- 0.4 min). In conclusion, delivery of RF current for AV node catheter ablation in patients with AF and reduced ventricular function is not associated with any acute cardiodepressant effect. On the contrary, improved control of rapid heart rate following successful AV node ablation is associated with a modest and progressive improvement in cardiac performance.

Background To date, limited population‐level studies have examined the impact of sex on the acute complications of cardiac implantable electronic devices ( CIED) , including permanent pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. Methods and Results We studied all patients aged >18 years from 2010 to 2015 who were a resident of Australia or New Zealand, undergoing a new permanent pacemaker, implantable cardioverter defibrillator , or cardiac resynchronization therapy implant. Standardized variables were collected including patient demographic characteristics, primary and secondary diagnoses, procedures performed and discharge status. Diagnoses and procedures were coded as per the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision ( ICD‐10 ) and the Australian Classification of Health Interventions. The primary end point was the incidence of major CIED ‐related complications in‐hospital or within 90 days of discharge, with the effect of sex evaluated using multiple logistic regression. A total of 81 304 new CIED (61 658 permanent pacemakers, 12 097 implantable cardioverter defibrillators, 7574 cardiac resynchronization therapy) implants were included (38% women). Overall, 8.5% of women and 8.0% of men experienced a CIED complication ( P =0.008). Differences between women and men remained significant after adjustment for age, procedural acuity, and comorbidities (odds ratio 1.10, 95% CI: 1.04–1.16, P <0.001). Differences in CIED complication rates were primarily driven by excess rate of in‐hospital pleural drainage (1.2% women versus 0.6% men, P <0.001; adjusted odds ratio 1.86, 95% CI: 1.59–2.17, P <0.001) and pericardial drainage (0.3% women versus 0.1% men, P <0.001; adjusted odds ratio 2.17, 95% CI: 1.48–3.18, P <0.001). Conclusions Women are at higher risk of acute CIED complications. Improvements in implant technique and technologies are required to minimize the risk of implant‐related complications in women.

Transformation of a "block rotation" to "LIC" medical student education in a tertiary academic teaching hospital has many challenges, many of which can be anticipated, but some are unexpected.