It was encouraging to note that during the past decade the growth in invasive arrhythmia therapies was greatest in the areas historically with relatively low activity. Nevertheless, there is substantial disparity and continued efforts are needed to improve harmonization of cardiac arrhythmia therapies in the ESC area.

AimsTo determine whether risk stratification tests can predict serious arrhythmic events after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF ≤ 0.40).Methods and resultsA total of 5869 consecutive patients were screened in 10 European centres, and 312 patients (age 65 ± 11 years) with a mean LVEF of 31 ± 6% were included in the study. Heart rate variability/turbulence, ambient arrhythmias, signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG), T-wave alternans, and programmed electrical stimulation (PES) were performed 6 weeks after AMI. The primary endpoint was ECG-documented ventricular fibrillation or symptomatic sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT). To document these arrhythmic events, the patients received an implantable ECG loop-recorder. There were 25 primary endpoints (8.0%) during the follow-up of 2 years. The strongest predictors of primary endpoint were measures of heart rate variability, e.g. hazard ratio (HR) for reduced very-low frequency component (<5.7 ln ms2) adjusted for clinical variables was 7.0 (95% CI: 2.4–20.3, P < 0.001). Induction of sustained monomorphic VT during PES (adjusted HR = 4.8, 95% CI, 1.7–13.4, P = 0.003) also predicted the primary endpoint.ConclusionFatal or near-fatal arrhythmias can be predicted by many risk stratification methods, especially by heart rate variability, in patients with reduced LVEF after AMI.

AimsThe purpose of this prospective study was to investigate whether internet-based remote monitoring offers a safe, practical, and cost-effective alternative to the in-office follow-up visits of patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).Methods and resultsForty-one patients (62 ± 10 years, range 41–76, 83% male) with previously implanted ICD were followed for 9 months. One-hundred and nineteen scheduled and 18 unscheduled data transmissions were performed. There were no device-related adverse events. Over 90% of the patients found the system easy to use. Physicians reported the system as being ‘very easy’ or ‘easy’ to use and found the data comparable to traditional device interrogation in 99% of the cases. They were able to address all unscheduled data transmissions remotely. Compared with the in-office visits, remote monitoring required less time from patients (6.9 ± 5.0 vs. 182 ± 148 min, P < 0.001) and physicians (8.4 ± 4.5 vs. 25.8 ± 17.0 min, P < 0.001) to complete the follow-up. Substitution of two routine in-office visits during the study by remote monitoring reduced the overall cost of routine ICD follow-up by 524€ per patient (41%).ConclusionRemote monitoring offers a safe, feasible, time-saving, and cost-effective solution to ICD follow-up.

Radiofrequency catheter ablation seems to be more effective than medical therapy as first-line treatment of paroxysmal AF in relatively young and otherwise healthy patients, but may also cause more severe adverse effects. These findings support the use of RFA as first-line therapy in selected patients, who understand the benefits and risks of the procedure.