There is no prior report of an Aveir leadless pacemaker implantation into the atrial appendage via the internal jugular vein. A 44-year-old female patient with history of multiple ablations for sinus node dysfunction presented with symptomatic bradycardia. The patient had femoral veins <9mm, chronic pain at the femoral vein insertion sites, as well as a recent car accident with persistent leg pain due to femoral fractures. Placement of a leadless pacemaker was decided based on patient discretion. An Abbott Aveir AR leadless pacemaker was implanted via left internal jugular vein access without complication. Post device implantation showed threshold of 0.75V @0.4ms, impedance of 340Ω, Pwave of 4.4mV. Six-month follow-up demonstrated a threshold of 0.5V @0.2 milliseconds, impedance of 300Ω and Pwave of 7.2mV with 92% pacing and predicted longevity of 12.7 years. The follow-up showed no complications in the patient. A similar approach may be feasible for other patients needing atrial leadless pacing, in which the transfemoral approach is not preferred. Implantation of the Aveir AR leadless pacemaker into the right atrial appendage is feasible via the left internal jugular vein.

Unexplained change in parameters, despite good lead positions or odd ECG patterns following implant should lead to suspicion of lead swap, amongst other possibilities. An easy way to confirm this is by paying careful attention to device EGMs and recording the ECG by switching off one channel, and pacing single channel (in either AAI or VVI mode).

IntroductionUnipolar radiofrequency (RF) ablation using half-normal saline irrigation (UNIP-HNS) and bipolar RF ablation using normal saline irrigation (BIP-NS) are effective to treat arrhythmias from inside thick myocardium. However, differences between these two ablations when using a long application time had not fully been studied. MethodsUNIP-HNS, BIP-NS and unipolar RF ablation using normal saline irrigation (UNIP-NS) were applied for 120 seconds (30 W and 20-g contact) to porcine endocardial wall (≧15.0 mm thickness). ResultsAll ablations (30 applications each in UNIP-HNS and BIP-NS, and 20 applications in UNIP-NS) were successfully accomplished without steam-pop. Total impedance decline was largest in BIP-NS followed by UNIP-HNS and UNIP-NS. UNIP-HNS created larger surface lesions and greater maximum lesion width under the surface than those by UNIP-NS and BIP-NS. Endocardial lesion depth in UNIP-HNS and BIP-NS were deeper than that in UNIP-NS, but with no difference between UNIP-HNS and BIP-NS, when selecting non-transmural lesions. Similar results were obtained when all lesions (non-transmural and transmural) were included and endocardial lesion depth of the transmural lesions (13/30 applications of BIP-NS) was estimated as 50% of the myocardial thickness. Lesion length in the transverse myocardial wall (endocardial plus epicardial lesions) was greatest in BIP-NS. ConclusionsLonger application time ablation (30 W) targeting the thick myocardium was performable in UNIP-HNS and BIP-NS. Since a transmural lesion and/or a deeper lesion into the myocardial wall are created, BIP-NS is preferable if two ablation catheters can be positioned on either side of the target.

IntroductionConventional three-lead ambulatory electrocardiogram recording (3L-AECG) is used for the quantitative diagnosis of arrhythmias. However, the lack of crucial information, such as QRS morphology and orientation, renders the 3L-AECG incomplete for planning electrophysiological interventions. The 12-lead AECG (12L-AECG) merges the temporal resolution 3L-AECG with the spatial resolution of the standard electrocardiogram (S-ECG). Although it provides more detail, it is not widely used. This study aimed to verify whether the seven-electrode 12L-AECG and S-ECG have similar waveforms. MethodsA questionnaire consisting of 240 side-by-side comparisons (12 leads from 20 patients) was created. These consisted of a QRS registered using the 12L-AECG and a QRS from the same patient, registered using the S-ECG. The questionnaire was submitted to cardiologists trained in electrophysiology. For each comparison, the evaluator assigned “similar” or “different” depending on their own judgment. ResultsFive cardiologists completed the questionnaire, resulting in 1200 answers. The AECG-12 was similar to the ECG in 84.50 % of the instances (95 % confidence interval [CI] 83.20–86.50). The interobserver agreement was moderate (0.542, p < 0.001). The similarity between specific leads ranged up to 98 % (95 % CI 92.96–99.76). No significant differences were found among patients (p = 0.407). ConclusionThe seven-electrode 12L-AECG and S-ECG produced comparable waveforms. This similarity supports the use of 12L-AECG for accurate arrhythmia tracking and assists in planning electrophysiological procedures.

AimsPlasma NT-proBNP is an established marker of heart failure. Previous studies suggested urinary NT-proBNP has potential as marker of chronic heart failure as well. The objective of this study was to compare urinary NT-proBNP to plasma NT-proBNP in a real-life collective of patients with an ICD, especially regarding ICD-therapies. Methods & ResultsNT-proBNP was assessed in plasma and fresh spot urine (the latter related to urinary creatinine) from 322 patients of our ICD outpatient clinic. 54 healthy individuals served as a control group. Follow-up regarding mortality and ICD therapies was performed after 32 months (IQR 5– 35 months). Plasma and urinary NT-proBNP was positively correlated (r=0.89, p<0,001). According to ROC analysis urinary NT-proBNP detected LV dysfunction (EF<35% vs. healthy CTRL) with very satisfying predictive values (AUC 0.95), but plasma NT-proBNP showed slightly better values (AUC 0.99). Patients who received appropriate ICD-shock-therapies showed significantly higher plasma (p<0.001) as well as urinary NT-proBNP levels (p=0.011) compared to patients without shock-therapy. In Kaplan-Meier analysis, plasma as well as urinary NT-proBNP levels > Youden-Index showed significantly higher event rates for appropriate ICD-shock therapies (p<0.001 and p=0.016) and the combined endpoint of all-cause-mortality and shock therapies (each p<0.001). Urinary and plasma NT-proBNP were independent predictors for appropriate ICD-shock-therapies and for the combined endpoint of all-cause mortality and appropriate ICD-shock-therapies (each p<0.001). ConclusionUrinary NT-proBNP as a marker for LV dysfunction and symptomatic heart failure showed promising predictive values. Associations between plasma as well as urinary NT-proBNP and ICD shock-therapies could be shown.