PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R López-Palop

Publications and source records attributed to R López-Palop.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Determinants of inducibility of ventricular tachycardia.

We analyzed the incidence and predictive factors for induction of clinical ventricular tachycardia (VT) during an electrophysiologic study in 127 patients with structural heart disease and spontaneous VT documented by 12-lead electrocardiography. Eighty-five patients had coronary artery disease (CAD), 24 had idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC), and 18 had right ventricular dysplasia (RVD). Clinical variables were age, gender, electrocardiographic patterns of spontaneous arrhythmia, cardiac diagnosis, left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF), infarct location, and presence of LV aneurysm. Clinical VT was induced in 76 patients (60%, group 1) and was not induced in 51 patients (group 2). Clinical VT was induced in 83% of patients with RVD, 58% of patients with CAD, and 50% of patients with IDC (p = 0.07). LVEF tended to be significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (p = 0.06). The presence of left QRS axis in the frontal plane during spontaneous VT was significantly associated with a higher inducibility both in the general group (69% vs 46%, p <0.02) and in patients with CAD (70% vs 44%, p <0.02). In patients with CAD, only the presence of a left QRS axis was significantly associated with a higher inducibility. A multivariate analysis identified only the left QRS axis as a significant and independent predictor of induction of clinical VT. The association of a leftward axis with inducibility suggests that vectorial factors in the depolarization wavefronts may be related to inducibility since conventional stimulation is performed from the right ventricle, producing a leftward axis in most cases.

Adult↗

Atypical angina.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Angina Pectoris↗

[Feasibility and safety of intracoronary ultrasound. Experience of a single center].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Intracoronary ultrasound provides a number of advantages in the quantification and characterization of coronary stenoses with regard to contrast angiography. However, previous studies have reported a 3.5 to 11% complication rate, and a 10-30% failure rate in performing this technique. The purpose of the study is to analyze the feasibility of performing intracoronary ultrasound and the incidence of complications associated with the use of contemporary, state of the art equipment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The feasibility of performing intracoronary ultrasound, analyzed as the percentage of successes and failures in performing the examination was reviewed, as well as the complication rate associated with the technique in all the procedures carried out between July 1, 1994 and February 29, 1996 in which intravascular ultrasound was attempted. Complications were categorized as related, non-related and uncertainly related to the ultrasound study. RESULTS: 239 vessels were studied with intravascular ultrasound in 209 procedures (74% interventional) performed on 139 patients. Ultrasound examination was feasible in all the diagnostic studies and in 96% of the interventional procedures. The major and minor procedural complication rate was 2.4 and 10.5% respectively. No major complication was related to the ultrasound examination. Three patients experienced minor complications (1.4%) related to the ultrasound study. All three complications occurred in baseline studies during interventional procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Intracoronary ultrasound is feasible and safe in the vast majority of the procedures. Improvements in smaller catheter size and design and larger operator expertise have significantly reduced the complication rate, particularly the most frequent coronary spasm so far. Complications are associated with baseline studies during interventional procedures and with less operator expertise.

Aged↗

Combined effect of age and right ventricular involvement on acute inferior myocardial infarction prognosis.

BACKGROUND: In patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction (AIMI), right ventricular involvement (RVI) is one of the strongest predictors of in-hospital death. We hypothesized that the impact of RVI on AIMI prognosis depends on the patient's age. METHODS AND RESULTS: The in-hospital clinical outcome of 798 consecutive patients admitted to the coronary care unit within 48 hours of symptom onset with AIMI was analyzed according to patient age and to the presence of RVI diagnosed by ECG and/or echocardiographic criteria. The total incidence of RVI was 37%, and it increased as age advanced. Patients with RVI had a significantly higher incidence of major complications (45% versus 19%, P<0.0001) and a higher in-hospital mortality rate (22% versus 6%, P<0.0001). The prognostic effect of RVI was independent of sex, smoking, diabetes, shock on admission, left ventricular ejection fraction, and reperfusion therapy, all age-dependent predictors. A multivariate analysis showed a significant (P=0.03) interaction between age and RVI on AIMI mortality. RVI increased mortality risk only in the oldest patients. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with AIMI, RVI substantially increases mortality risk in elderly patients, whereas it has a nonsignificant effect in young subjects.

Aged↗

In-hospital outcome of elderly patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction and right ventricular involvement.

BACKGROUND: There are some specific high-risk subgroups of patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction, such as older patients and those with right ventricular involvement. However, the clinical implications of right ventricular infarction in elderly subjects have not been studied previously. METHODS AND RESULTS: To determine the clinical impact of right ventricular involvement in elderly patients with inferior myocardial infarction, we studied the in-hospital outcome of 198 consecutive patients > or = 75 years of age with a first acute inferior myocardial infarction according to the presence of ECG or echocardiographic criteria of right ventricular infarction. In patients with right ventricular involvement (41%), in-hospital case fatality rate was 47% (mainly because of nonreversible low cardiac output cardiogenic shock) compared with 10% in patients without right ventricular involvement (P<.001). Patients with right ventricular involvement also had a significantly higher incidence of cardiogenic shock (32% versus 5%), which was independent of left ventricular ejection fraction, complete AV block (33% versus 9%), and interventricular septal rupture (9% versus 0%). After adjustment for age, sex, diabetes, shock on admission, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, and complete AV block, right ventricular infarction remained a powerful independent predictor of in-hospital death (adjusted odds ratio, 4.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 14.2). CONCLUSIONS: Elderly patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction have a substantially increased risk of death during hospitalization when right ventricular involvement is present. The poorer outcome is due mainly to the high incidence of cardiogenic shock and its infrequent reversibility.

Acute Disease↗

[Electric treatment of atrial fibrillation].

In the present manuscript the information concerning electrical therapy of atrial fibrillation (AF) to prevent its development and to control its consequences (excluding ablation which will be covered in separate manuscripts of this series) is reviewed. Both presently conventional approaches and those undergoing investigation will be considered, under three general headings. Electrical stimulation to prevent the development of AF. Based on non controlled studies comparing VVI stimulation with other modalities that include stimulation of the atria, it was suggested that atrial stimulation could prevent AF recurrences in patients with sinus node dysfunction. This concept has been questioned in recent studies. In contrast, the hypothesis that specific ways of atrial stimulation (stimulation at sites other than the high right atrium, multisite simultaneous or with certain "delays" atrial stimulation) may be more efficacious is presently under enthusiastic assessment. Electrical stimulation to control ventricular response. Despite the evidence that ventricular stimulation may contribute to regularization and rate control during AF, its quantitative value seems to be scarce and, thus, is not of regular use in practice. Automatic implantable atrial defibrillator. Both animal experiments and clinical studies have demonstrated that the atria can be defibrillated using intracavitary electrodes with less than 3 joules in most cases, and without risk of inducing ventricular tachyarrhythmias as long as shocks are synchronized to the R wave and the preceding R-R interval is not short. Although an implantable atrial defibrillator is already undergoing clinical evaluation, the subject of tolerability of patients to shocks for non malignant arrhythmias is still controversial, since even low energy shocks seem to be painful.

Atrial Fibrillation↗