Background-Atrial arrhythmias are common early after atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. We hypothesized that empirical antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy for 6 weeks after AF ablation would reduce the occurrence of atrial arrhythmias. Methods and Results-We randomized consecutive patients with paroxysmal AF undergoing ablation to empirical antiarrhythmic therapy (AAD group) or no antiarrhythmic therapy (no-AAD group) for the first 6 weeks after ablation. In the no-AAD group, only atrioventricular nodal blocking agents were prescribed. All patients wore a transtelephonic monitor for 4 weeks after discharge and were reevaluated at 6 weeks. The primary end point of the study was a composite of (1) atrial arrhythmias lasting more than 24 hours; (2) atrial arrhythmias associated with severe symptoms requiring hospital admission, cardioversion, or initiation/change of antiarrhythmic drug therapy; and (3) intolerance to antiarrhythmic agent requiring drug cessation. Of 110 enrolled patients (age 55Ϯ9 years, 71% male), 53 were randomized to AAD and 57 to no-AAD. There was no difference in baseline characteristics between groups. During the 6 weeks after ablation, fewer patients reached the primary end point in the AAD compared with the no-AAD group (19% versus 42%; Pϭ0.005). There remained fewer events in the AAD group (13% versus 28%; Pϭ0.05) when only end points of AF Ͼ24 hours, arrhythmia-related hospitalization, or electrical cardioversion were compared. Conclusions-AAD treatment during the first 6 weeks after AF ablation is well tolerated and reduces the incidence of clinically significant atrial arrhythmias and need for cardioversion/hospitalization for arrhythmia management.

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BackgroundTotal knee arthroplasty is an effective treatment when nonsurgical treatments fail, but it is associated with risk of complications which may be increased in advanced age. The purpose of this study was to quantify age-related differences in perioperative morbidity and mortality after total knee arthroplasty through systematic review of existing literature.MethodsPubMed, the Cochrane database of systematic reviews, Scopus, and clinicaltrials.gov, were queried for relevant studies that compared primary total knee arthroplasty outcomes of mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE) and functional status, of geriatric patients (>75 years old) with a younger control group (<65 years old). Pertinent journals and reference lists were hand searched. Eligibility criteria included all articles except case reports, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews. Two authors independently extracted data from each paper. Article quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.ResultsTwenty-two studies were included. Geriatric patients had higher rates of mortality, MI, DVT, and length of stay in older compared to younger patients, however the absolute magnitude of these increases were small. The increase in mortality may have reflected decreased life expectancy in the geriatric populations as opposed to mortality specifically due perioperative risk. There were no differences in PE incidence and improvement in pain and functional status was equal in older and younger patients. Existing studies were limited by non-randomized patient selection, as well as variation in definitions and methodology.ConclusionsExisting data supports offering primary total knee arthroplasty to select geriatric patients, although the risk of complications may be increased. Much of the data was of poor quality. Future prospective studies are needed to better identify risks and benefits of total knee arthroplasty so that patients and surgeons can make informed decisions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12877-016-0215-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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There were 49,515 patients with metastatic disease who were discharged with a diagnosis of ACS. Of these, 15,964 had STEMI and 33,551 had NSTEMI. 3981 patients (24.9%) with STEMI and 3209 patients (9.6%) with NSTEMI received percutaneous coronary intervention. Caucasian male patients under age 65 years were more likely to receive PCI in the setting of an ACS. The hospital characteristics associated with higher use of PCI included academic affiliation, large bedsize, private for-profit hospitals and Midwestern and Western regions of USA. The adjusted odds of receiving PCI in this group of patient have gradually increased by 1.14 every year in last decade (95% CI 1.11-1.16). The beneficial effect of PCI on in-hospital mortality has declined in NSTEMI such that by 2009, there was no significant difference between patients who received PCI and those who did not receive PCI. This has remained unchanged for STEMI patients.C ONCLUSIONS: In metastatic cancer patients with ACS, the rate of PCI has increased over the last decade. In the current era, metastatic cancer patients with NSTEMI may perform equally well without PCI in terms of in-hospital mortality. The decision to provide such care may be considered on an individual basis based on the extent of their medical comorbidity and tumor burden.