Isolated gain of methylation (GOM) at the IGF2/H19 imprinting control region 1 (ICR1) accounts for about 10% of patients with BWS. A subset of these patients have genetic defects within ICR1, but the frequency of these defects has not yet been established in a large cohort of BWS patients with isolated ICR1 GOM. Here, we carried out a genetic analysis in a large cohort of 57 BWS patients with i...

The emergence of new media-including branded websites, social media and mobile applications-has created additional touch points for unhealthy food and beverage companies to target children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to perform an audit of new media for three top selling food and beverage brands in Australia. The top selling brand in three of the most advertised food and beverage...

BACKGROUND: Physical function is a key determinant that corresponds to the physiological capacity of older adults to perform normal everyday activities, safely and independently, without undue fatigue. We examined the associations of sedentary behavior (SB), breaks in sedentary time (BST), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with physical function in older adults. METHODS: Phys...

BACKGROUND: The effects of advanced glycation endproducts on cognition and brain structure are poorly understood. We studied associations of the advanced glycation endproduct precursor methylglyoxal (MGO) with cognitive function and brain volumes in older people. METHODS: Nondemented participants in the Tasmanian Study of Cognition and Gait underwent cognitive testing and brain magnetic reso...

Aims: Catheter ablation to achieve posterior left atrial wall (PW) isolation may be performed as an adjunct to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). We aimed to determine whether routine adenosine challenge for dormant posterior wall conduction improved long-term outcome. Methods and results: A total of 161 patients with persistent AF (mean ...

AIMS: Prior reports using pacing manoeuvres, demonstrated an up to 42% prevalence of residual pulmonary vein to left atrium (PV-LA) exit conduction after apparent LA-PV entry block. We aimed to determine in a two-centre study the prevalence of residual PV-LA exit conduction in the presence of unambiguously proven entry block and without pacing manoeuvres. METHODS AND RESULTS: Of 378 patients, ...

AIMS: Fluoroscopy remains a cornerstone imaging technique in contemporary electrophysiology practice. We evaluated the impact of collimation to the 'minimal required field size' on clinically significant parameters of radiation exposure. METHODS AND RESULTS: Radiation dose measured by dose area product (DAP) and radiation dose rate measured by DAP per minute of fluoroscopy were determined fo...

AIMS: Cardiac transplantation (CTX) is an effective treatment for end-stage heart disease. Cardiac arrhythmias are increasingly recognized and associated with significant morbidity and mortality. We aim to describe the clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of patients with atrial arrhythmias occurring late after CTX. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixteen patients with prior CTX who presen...

AIMS: Increasing age is a significant risk factor for developing atrial fibrillation (AF). Pulmonary vein (PV) triggers are critical in the mechanism of AF, but little is known of the substrate changes that occur within the PVs with ageing. Therefore, we sought to identify whether ageing is associated with electroanatomic changes within the pulmonary veins. METHODS AND RESULTS: Twenty-five p...

AIMS: Even though cardiovascular disease is gradually becoming the major cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, there are very few data on the pattern of heart disease in this part of the world. We therefore decided to determine the pattern of heart disease in Abuja, which is one of the fastest growing and most westernized cities in Nigeria, and compare our findings with those...

AIMS: Interstitial fibrosis is a key component of myocardial remodelling in heart failure (HF). Many studies have measured peripheral blood levels of procollagens and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), as a surrogate for myocardial matrix metabolism, particularly to evaluate the effect of interventions and their prognostic relevance. However, the relationship between peripheral biomarker levels...

Aims: The recent failures of HDL-raising therapies have underscored our incomplete understanding of HDL biology. Therefore there is an urgent need to comprehensively investigate HDL metabolism to enable the development of effective HDL-centric therapies. To identify novel regulators of HDL metabolism, we performed a joint analysis of human genetic, transcriptomic, and plasma HDL-cholesterol ...

Aims: To determine if an intensified form of heart failure management programme (INT-HF-MP) based on individual profiling is superior to standard management (SM) in reducing health care costs during 12-month follow-up (primary endpoint). Methods and results: A multicentre randomized trial involving 787 patients (full analysis set) discharged from four tertiary hospitals with chronic HF w...

Aims Catheter-based renal artery denervation (RDN) has been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) in certain patients with uncontrolled hypertension. Isolated systolic hypertension (ISH) (systolic BP [SBP] ≥140 mmHg and diastolic BP <90 mmHg), characterized by increased vascular stiffness, is the predominant hypertensive phenotype in elderly patients. This study compared baseline characteristic...

AIMS: While excessive sitting time is related adversely to cardio-metabolic health, it is unknown whether standing is a suitable replacement activity or whether ambulatory movement is required. Using isotemporal substitution analyses, we modelled cross-sectional associations with cardio-metabolic risk biomarkers of reallocating time (2 h/day) from sitting to standing or to stepping. METHODS A...

AIMS: Intense exercise places disproportionate strain on the right ventricle (RV) which may promote pro-arrhythmic remodelling in some athletes. RV exercise imaging may enable early identification of athletes at risk of arrhythmias. METHODS AND RESULTS: Exercise imaging was performed in 17 athletes with RV ventricular arrhythmias (EA-VAs), of which eight (47%) had an implantable cardiac ...

AIMS: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is the cornerstone of catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). The intervenous ridge (IVR) may be incorporated into ablation strategies to achieve PVI; however, randomized trials are lacking. We performed a randomized multi-centre international study to compare the outcomes of (i) circumferential antral PVI (CPVI) alone (minimal) vs. (ii) CPVI with IV...

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine long-term results of renal artery denervation for treatment of treatment-resistant hypertension in the SYMPLICITY HTN-2 study. METHODS: SYMPLICITY HTN-2 randomized 106 subjects with treatment-resistant hypertension to renal denervation or medical therapy alone. At 6 months, 37 control subjects crossed over to renal denervation. Office blood pressur...

AIMS: Sympathetic stimulation induces left ventricular hypertrophy and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Catheter-based renal denervation (RDN) has been shown to reduce sympathetic outflow and blood pressure (BP). The present multi-centre study aimed to investigate the effect of RDN on anatomic and functional myocardial parameters, assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR)...

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the nature of atrial fibrillation (AF) activation in human persistent AF (PerAF) using modern tools including activation, directionality analyses, complex-fractionated electrogram, and spectral information. BACKGROUND: The mechanism of PerAF in humans is uncertain. METHODS AND RESULTS: High-density epicardial mapping (128 electrodes/6.75 cm(2)) of the posterior ...