We are Almost Through with Summer!

Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, Andrea Natale


Dear Colleagues

Welcome to the summer issue of JAFIB. Hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the season and related travels. It has been a very interesting summer for those of us who live in North America with several hot days and unusual cold spurts in between.

In this issue of the journal we have several interesting articles presented for your reading.Pickett etal described their experience with capnography in assessing the effectiveness of the PV balloon occlusion during atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. Their study examines the balloon-to-PV occlusion step and monitors the completeness of occlusion using capnography to measure end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2). And to determine if ETCO2 measurements can be used to quantify the amount of balloon-to-PV occlusion and to determine if acute ETCO2 parameters could predict long-term freedom from atrial fibrillation (AF). In their CAABL- CE study Srivatsa and group showed that patients with non-valvular AF, although ablation is associated with increased risk of re-hospitalization for simple AF, it was associatedwith a significant reduction in the risk of re-hospitalization for heart failure, acute coronary syndrome and severe AF.

In another small but interesting cohort of patients Mortadaetal confirmed the predictive power of atrial scar for AF recurrence in line with previously published data. There a few excellent review articles on left atrial appendage epicardial ligation system and AV node ablation in AF and heart failure. As August rolls in the annual Kansas City Heart Rhythm Symposium comes up featuring several excellent speakers. Congratulations to Prof. John Camm on receiving the KCHRS Pioneer in EP Award.

Have a great rest of the summer.

Best Wishes




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



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