Infections cause lower proportion of lead extractions than expected
The implantation rate of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) continues to rise in most countries in Europe
2013-09-03
(Press-News.org) Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Tuesday 3 September 2013: Infections cause a lower proportion of lead extractions than expected, according to preliminary results from the ELECTRa Registry presented at ESC Congress 2013 today by Dr Maria Grazia Bongiorni from Italy.
The European Lead Extraction ConTRolled (ELECTRa) Registry is the first large prospective, multicentre, European controlled registry of consecutive patients undergoing transvenous lead extraction (TLE) procedures in European real world practice. It is carried out by the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) and managed by the ESC's EORP programme.1
Dr Bongiorni said: "The implantation rate of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) continues to rise in most countries in Europe and in the US.2-6 The number of leads per patient is increasing due to a higher proportion of dual versus single chamber devices and an increase in implantations."
She added: "Despite developments in technology and improvements in reliability, leads remain the weak point of CIED systems and in some cases may fail and require extraction. Extractions are also needed due to infections. In recent years, an increasing number of European centres have started performing TLE procedures7 and data is needed on appropriate indications, techniques, success rates, safety and follow-up."
The primary aims of the ELECTRa Registry are to evaluate the acute and long-term safety of TLE and quantify major procedure related complications (including death) in acute and long-term follow-up. It is anticipated that over 100 centres from 25 countries will join the programme. Each centre will enroll consecutive patients undergoing TLE from November 2012 to January 2014 and follow them for 1 year. The target for statistical analysis is at least 3,500 patients. At the end of July 1,200 patients were enrolled.
Preliminary results show that infections were the indication for lead extraction in 52% of cases. Dr Bongiorni said: "Infections are the first reason for lead extractions but they were expected to be responsible for a higher proportion.3,8 This result might be related to the fact that lead malfunctions have increased in recent years and therefore the proportion of non-infectious indications have increased as well."
More than 60% of patients had diabetes or hypertension (see figure 1). Dr Bongiorni said: "A high proportion of patients requiring lead extraction had these risk factors for cardiovascular disease. They are both typical cardiovascular risk factors and prominent comorbidities of patients with CIEDs. Diabetes is also a risk factor for infections and therefore it could be related to the extractions for infectious cause."
CIED systems with more than a single lead were the most represented in the registry (dual chamber pacemaker, CRT-Defibrillator, dual chamber defibrillator, CRT-Pacemaker) (see figure 2). Dr Bongiorni said: "These findings are in line with the worldwide trend where more complex devices are correlated with more complications, hence the requirement for more lead extractions."
She concluded: "This important study will provide more accurate knowledge of outcomes in real world clinical practice. The data will be used to improve the quality of lead extraction, set standards for these procedures, and improve patient results."
INFORMATION: END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2013-09-03
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A team of researchers from the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering have solved a problem that previously presented a serious hurdle for the use of graphene in electronic devices.
Scanning electron microscopy image of graphene device used in the study. The scale bar is one micrometer. The UCR logo next to it is implemented with etched graphene.
Graphene is a single-atom thick carbon crystal with unique properties beneficial for electronics including extremely high electron mobility and phonon thermal conductivity. However, ...
2013-09-03
Removing one of the tiniest organs in the body has shown to provide effective treatment for high blood pressure. The discovery, made by University of Bristol researchers and published in Nature Communications, could revolutionise treatment of the world's biggest silent killer.
The carotid body — a small nodule (no larger than a rice grain) found on the side of each carotid artery — appears to be a major culprit in the development and regulation of high blood pressure.
Researchers, led by British Heart Foundation (BHF)-funded researcher Professor Julian Paton, found ...
2013-09-03
Only a fraction of the biodiversity on the planet is known to scientists and exploration of new places and habitats continue to yield exciting discoveries and new species to describe by taxonomists. This task is becoming increasingly urgent as a function of the continuous overexploitation of natural resources and destruction of habitats. In fact, it has recently been estimated that it takes on average 21 years from the discovery of a species in nature to its formal scientific description. The 'shelf life' can sometimes be significantly longer, as for the millipede Ommatoiulus ...
2013-09-03
The first systematic review of related research confirms a positive impact on cognitive function, but an inconsistent effect on mild cognitive impairment
Over recent years many pieces of research have identified a link between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and a lower risk of age-related disease such as dementia.
Until now there has been no systematic review of such research, where a number of studies regarding a Mediterranean diet and cognitive function are reviewed for consistencies, common trends and inconsistencies.
A team of researchers from the University ...
2013-09-03
Several millions of people around the world suffer from insulin deficiencies. Insulin is a hormone, secreted by the beta cells in the pancreas, which plays a major role in the regulation of energy substrates such as glucose. This insufficiency, primarily caused by diabetes (types 1 and 2), has lethal consequences if it is not treated. As of now, only daily insulin injections allow patients to survive.
Several millions of people around the world suffer from insulin deficiencies. Insulin is a hormone, secreted by the beta cells in the pancreas, which plays a major role ...
2013-09-03
A precisely designed macromolecule that mimics the binding of HIV to immune system cells could be used to stop the virus from physically entering the body, according to a new study led by a materials scientist at Queen Mary University of London.
The researchers created the large molecule with several sugar molecules, known as glycopolymers. By using different sugars attached to the macromolecule in solution, the scientists were able to investigate which sugar molecules were the most effective in inhibiting the potential binding of the virus.
They then measured how ...
2013-09-03
This news release is available in German. Leipzig/Dübendorf, Switzerland -- Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Envi-ronmental Research (UFZ), together with colleagues from the Swiss Eawag aquatic research institute, have discovered a protein which transports chemicals out of the embryo of the zebrafish and in this way protects the embryo against toxic substances. However, certain environmental chemicals render this protective mechanism ineffective, so that the fish embryos become more sensitive to toxic substances. The study, published in the scientific journal ...
2013-09-03
Scientists have for the first time provided proof of principle for a drug-based treatment of acute pancreatitis – a disease which is often alcohol-related and for which currently there is no treatment.
Each year around 20,000 people in the UK are admitted to hospital with acute pancreatitis. One in five of these cases are severe, resulting in around 1000 deaths annually.
Published in the US-based PNAS journal*, findings reveal that tests undertaken by scientists at Cardiff University, using an existing calcium channel-blocking compound developed by GlaxoSmithKline, ...
2013-09-03
Washington, DC -- September 3, 2013 -- The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) released its first international poll today, the 2013 International Bedroom Poll, comparing sleep times, attitudes, habits and bedtime routines of those in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan between the ages of 25 and 55 years old.
Japan and the United States report the least amount of sleep.
Japanese and Americans report sleeping about 30 to 40 minutes less on workdays than those in the other countries surveyed, averaging 6 hours and 22 minutes and 6 hours ...
2013-09-03
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Ground-breaking new research from a team of evolutionary biologists at Indiana University shows for the first time how asexual lineages of a species are doomed not necessarily from a long, slow accumulation of new mutations, but rather from fast-paced gene conversion processes that simply unmask pre-existing deleterious recessive mutations.
Geneticists have long bet on the success of sexual reproduction over asexual reproduction based in a large part on the process known as Muller's ratchet, the mechanism by which a genome accrues deleterious and ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Infections cause lower proportion of lead extractions than expected
The implantation rate of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) continues to rise in most countries in Europe
