The ablation of atrial fibrillation with the loop catheter design: what we have learned from the animal model

Ablation of chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) with the use of transcutaneous catheter ablation is yet to become a clinical tool. This article summarizes the development of the technology and the technique for the ablation of AF that was tested on the rapidly paced AF dog model. The current ablation technology using the standard ablation technique used in humans is not suitable for the creation of transmural contiguous linear lesions, and such technology is subjecting the patient to the prolonged procedures with considerable risk of complication. The use of the loop catheter design or other designs of ablation technology, which is specifically targeted for the creation of linear lesions, should be developed if the catheter approach for the ablation of AF is to succeed. This article describes the data available for the loop catheter design that is currently undergoing human feasibility studies.     

Hepatitis C Virus Epidemiology in Lithuania: Situation before Introduction of the National Screening Programme

In 2022, the Lithuanian health authorities decided to pay general practitioners a fee for performing serological tests for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies in the population born from 1945 to 1994 once per life and annual HCV testing for PWID and HIV infected patients. This study aimed to assess trends in HCV-related mortality in the country and the prevalence of HCV infection among patients with liver diseases and evaluate possibilities of screening for HCV infection at a primary health care center. Age-standardized mortality rates in 2010–2020 were calculated for deaths caused by chronic hepatitis C and some liver diseases. Data on HCV infection among patients with liver cirrhosis, cancer and transplant patients were collected from the tertiary care hospital Kauno Klinikos. The prevalence of anti-HCV and risk factors of HCV infection was assessed among patients registered with the health care center in Klaipeda, where a pilot study of screening was performed. No steady trend in mortality was observed. Analysis of medical documentation showed that 40.5% of patients with liver cirrhosis, 49.7% with cancers and 36.9% of transplant patients were HCV infected. Over the year, 4867 patients were screened in the primary health care center. Positive anti-HCV prevalence was 1.7% (2.1% in men and 1.3% in women). Blood transfusion and being a blood donor before 1993 also having tattoos were associated with higher odds of HCV infection. The study revealed the active participation of individuals in HCV screening.