Advances in Electrophysiology

Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, Andrea Natale


Dear Friends and Colleagues from Around the World

Hope this edition of JAFIB finds you in good health and better spirits. Congratulations to Jeremy Ruskin and team on yet another successfully organized Atrial Fibrillation Symposium in Orlando. The focus this year seems to be on stroke prevention, left atrial appendage and therapies for non-paroxysmal AF. The interim results of REAFFIRM trial have been presented. It was not surprising to see that there was no difference between the FIRM ablation group compared to the control which did very well compared to any other historical groups in similar persistent AF studies. The lesion set used in these patients is not properly controlled and is mostly left to the operator discretion. Results from the long-term will be interesting to watch even though it will come at significant costs.

In this issue of the journal we have excellent work presented by authors from all over the world. Agner etal’s manuscript on the impact of rhythm on the global left ventricular systolic function using strain analysis is very interesting and perhaps could play a very important role in understanding the maladies of AF. Yarlagadda etal show the differences in the QT interval prolongation and side effect profiles of Dofetilide and Sotalol in their retrospective analysis. Connection between reduced p-wave amplitude in coronary artery disease patients and AF. There are several educational case reports that are great teaching material.

We would like to invite you to the 2018 version of the International Symposium on Left Atrial Appendage (ISLAA) in Long Beach on February 9th and 10th. For those of you who are actively involved in the LAA space and or those who are thinking of starting a program this will be a fantastic opportunity worth attending. A great mixture of didactic sessions, live cases and robust discussions with the experts will be worth your while.

We once again thank you for your unwavering support of the journal and your eternal belief in the humanity and kindness of the world. May the New Year help promote sanity, humanity and kindness succeed in combating insanity, poverty and disease?

Best warm regards




Dhanunjaya (DJ)Lakkireddy MD, FACC, FHRS Associate Editor JAFIB



Andrea Natale MD, FACC, FHRS, FESC Editor-in-Chief JAFIB