Circulation journal : official journal of the Japanese Circulation Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Rate control and quality of life in patients with permanent atrial fibrillation: the Quality of Life and Atrial Fibrillation (QOLAF) Study.
The present study aimed to determine whether quality of life (QOL) in permanent atrial fibrillation (AF) patients would be improved by monotherapy with beta-blocker (BB) or calcium antagonist (CAA) as compared with digitalis. ⋯ These results indicate that CAA is preferable to digitalis when monotherapy is selected for short-term improvement of QOL and exercise tolerance in patients with permanent AF.
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In non-thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, endothelin (ET)-1 levels are increased and correlate with the hemodynamic severity of the disease. Whether such correlations exist in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is unknown, nor whether ET-1 levels correlate with hemodynamic outcome after pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA). ⋯ ET-1 levels in CTEPH closely correlated with the hemodynamic and clinical severity of disease in a large cohort of patients. Preoperative ET-1 levels may be useful for better identification of patients at risk for persistent pulmonary hypertension after PEA.
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Public access defibrillation has been introduced to improve the outcome of patients experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The aim of this study was to examine the best location for automated external defibrillators (AED). ⋯ The 6 locations, including workplace, are recommended as appropriate locations for AED.
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It is reported that there is a significant relationship between the calcification of the aortic arch detected by chest X-ray examination and stroke. However, the relationship between stroke and aortic calcification (AoC) detected during a mass screening using a mobile helical computed tomography (CT) unit remains unknown. ⋯ These results suggest that detection of AoC during mass chest screening using a mobile helical CT unit is an effective way to evaluate the risk of cerebral infarction.