COVID-19 outbreak had a major impact on the organization of care in Italy, and a survey to evaluate provision of for arrhythmia during COVID-19 outbreak (March-April 2020) was launched. A total of 104 physicians from 84 Italian arrhythmia centres took part in the survey. The vast majority of participating centres (95.2%) reported a significant reduction in the number of elective pacemaker implantations during the outbreak period compared to the corresponding two months of year 2019 (50.0% of centres reported a reduction of > 50%). Similarly, 92.9% of participating centres reported a significant reduction in the number of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantations for primary prevention, and 72.6% a significant reduction of ICD implantations for secondary prevention (> 50% in 65.5 and 44.0% of the centres, respectively). The majority of participating centres (77.4%) reported a significant reduction in the number of elective ablations (> 50% in 65.5% of the centres). Also the interventional procedures performed in an emergency setting, as well as acute management of atrial fibrillation had a marked reduction, thus leading to the conclusion that the impact of COVID-19 was disrupting the entire organization of health care, with a massive impact on the activities and procedures related to arrhythmia management in Italy.

SUMMARY Aim:To assess the effect of chronotropic incompetence on functional capacity in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients, as evaluated as NYHA and peak oxygen consumption (pVO 2 ), focusing on the presence and dose of β-blocker treatment. Methods: Nine hundred and sixty-seven consecutive CHF patients were evaluated, 328 of whom were discarded because they failed to meet the study criteria. Of the 639 analyzed, 90 were not treated with β-blockers whereas the other 549 were. The latter were further subdivided in high (n = 184) and low (n = 365) β-blockers daily dose group in accordance with an arbitrary cut-off of 25 mg for carvedilol and of 5 mg for bisoprolol. Failure to achieve 80% of the percentage of maximum age predicted peak heart rate (%Max PHR) or of HR reserve (%HRR) constituted chronotropic incompetence. Results: No differences were found in NYHA or pVO2 between patients with and without β-blockers and, similarly, between high and low β-blocker dose groups. Twenty and sixty-nine percent of not β-blocked patients showed chronotropic incompetence according to %Max PHR and %HRR, respectively, whereas this prevalence rose to 61% and 84% in those on β-blocker therapy. Patients taking β-blockers without chronotropic incompetence, as inferable from both %Max PHR and %HRR, showed higher NYHA and pVO2 regardless of drug dose, whereas, in not β-blocked patients, only %HRR revealed a difference in functional capacity. At multivariable analysis, HR increase during exercise ( HR) was the variable most strongly associated to pVO2 (β: 0.572; SE: 0.008; P < 0.0001) and NYHA class (β: −0.499; SE: 0.001; P < 0.0001). Conclusions: HR is a powerful predictor of CHF severity regardless of the presence of β-blocker therapy and of β-blocker daily dose.

Background Highly localized impedance (LI) measurements during atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation have recently emerged as a viable real‐time indicator of tissue characteristics and durability of the lesions created. We report the outcomes of acute and long‐term clinical evaluation of the new DirectSense algorithm in AF ablation. Methods Consecutive patients undergoing AF ablation were included in the CHARISMA registry. RF delivery was guided by the DirectSense algorithm, which records the magnitude and time‐course of the impedance drop. The ablation endpoint was pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), as assessed by the entrance and exit block. Results 3556 point‐by‐point first‐pass RF applications of >10 s duration were analyzed in 153 patients (mean age=59 ± 10 years, 70% men, 61% paroxysmal AF, 39% persistent AF). The mean baseline LI was 105 ± 15 Ω before ablation and 92 ± 12 Ω after ablation (p < .0001). Both absolute drops in LI and the time to LI drop (LI drop/τ) were greater at successful ablation sites (n = 3122, 88%) than at ineffective ablation sites (n = 434, 12%) (14 ± 8 Ω vs 6 ± 4 Ω, p < .0001 for LI; 0.73 [0.41–1.25] Ω/s vs. 0.35[0.22–0.59 Ω/s, p < .0001 for LI drop/τ). No major complications occurred during or after the procedures. All PVs had been successfully isolated. During a mean follow‐up of 366 ± 130 days, 18 patients (11.8%) suffered an AF/atrial tachycardia recurrence after the 90‐day blanking period. Conclusion The magnitude and time‐course of the LI drop during RF delivery were associated with effective lesion formation. This ablation strategy for PVI guided by LI technology proved safe and effective and resulted in a very low rate of AF recurrence over 1‐year follow‐up.

Background Optimal pulmonary vein (PV) occlusion, usually verified with selective contrast injection, is mandatory to obtain an effective PV isolation during cryoballoon (CB) ablation. Aim of the study The purpose of this study was to verify the feasibility and the accuracy of a new dielectric sensing system in assessing PV occlusion during CB ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods We enrolled 28 consecutive patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF. After transseptal access, a detailed image reconstruction of left atrium and PVs was achieved with an octapolar or decapolar mapping catheter (Achieve catheter, Medtronic Inc.) and KODEX‐EPD system (EPD Solutions, a Philips company). The degree of PV occlusion with the inflated Arctic Front Advance Cryoballoon (Medtronic Inc.) was verified using the new “occlusion tool” software module (EPD Solutions, a Philips company) and compared to an angiogram obtained with contrast medium injection in each PV. Results A total of 105 PV CB occlusion were tested. The new occlusion tool software module showed a 91% sensitivity and 76% specificity in assessing a complete PV occlusion verified with contrast medium injection. The positive predictive value was 80%, and the negative predictive value was 88.6%. Mean procedure time was 81 ± 17 minutes. Mean fluoroscopy time was 6 ± 2 minutes. No 30‐day complications were observed. Conclusion The new dielectric imaging system was able to assess the degree of PV occlusion during a CB ablation with good sensitivity and specificity.

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