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[Display omitted] Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the primary cause of ischaemic stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA). AF is associated with a high risk of recurrence, which can be reduced using optimal prevention strategies, mainly anticoagulant therapy. The availability of effective prophylaxis justifies the need for a significant, coordinated and thorough transdisciplinary effort to screen for AF associated with stroke. A recent French national survey, initiated and supported by the Société française neurovasculaire (SFNV) and the Société française de cardiologie (SFC), revealed many shortcomings, such as the absence or inadequacy of telemetry equipment in more than half of stroke units, insufficient and highly variable access to monitoring tools, delays in performing screening tests, heterogeneous access to advanced or connected ambulatory monitoring techniques, and a lack of dedicated human resources. The present scientific document has been prepared on the initiative of the SFNV and the SFC with the aim of helping to address the current shortcomings and gaps, to promote efficient and cost-effective AF detection, and to improve and, where possible, homogenize the quality of practice in AF screening among stroke units and outpatient post-stroke care networks. The working group, composed of cardiologists and vascular neurologists who are experts in the field and are nominated by their peers, reviewed the literature to propose statements, which were discussed in successive cycles, and maintained, either by consensus or by vote, as appropriate. The text was then submitted to the SFNV and SFC board members for review. This scientific statement document argues for the widespread development of patient pathways to enable the most efficient AF screening after stroke. This assessment should be carried out by a multidisciplinary team, including expert cardiologists and vascular neurologists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Mexiletine, an antiarrhythmic agent, can relieve skeletal muscle myotonic symptoms. • In France, mexiletine can be used compassionately for myotonic dystrophy (MD). • An expert group has produced an algorithm for mexiletine use in patients with MD. • Patients with MD need close cardiac monitoring before and during mexiletine use. In France, mexiletine – a class I antiarrhythmic drug – can be prescribed for the symptomatic treatment of myotonia of the skeletal muscles in adult patients with myotonic dystrophy under a compassionate use programme. Mexiletine is used according to its summary of product characteristics, which describes its use for myotonia treatment in adult patients with non-dystrophic myotonia, a different neuromuscular condition without cardiac involvement. A cardiac assessment is required prior to initiation and throughout treatment due to potential proarrhythmic effects. The presence of conduction system disease, the most common cardiac manifestation of myotonic dystrophy, mandates repeated cardiac evaluations in patients with this condition, and becomes even more important when they are given mexiletine. A group of experts, including three neurologists and five cardiologists from French neuromuscular reference centres, were involved in a task force to develop a treatment algorithm to guide mexiletine use in myotonic dystrophy. The recommendations are based on data from a literature review of the safety of mexiletine-treated patients with myotonic dystrophy, the compassionate use protocol for mexiletine and the personal clinical experience of the experts. The main conclusion of the expert group is that, although existing safety data in mexiletine-treated patients with myotonic dystrophy are reassuring, cardiac assessments should be reinforced in such patients compared with mexiletine-treated patients with non-dystrophic myotonia. This expert opinion to guide mexiletine treatment in patients with myotonic dystrophy should help to reduce the risk of severe adverse events and facilitate interactions between specialists involved in the routine care of patients with myotonic dystrophy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • HAVB occurred in 11% of patients with aortic IE. • HAVB was associated with severe biological sepsis. • HAVB was associated with periannular extension of infection. • HAVB was associated with prolonged PR interval at admission. • HAVB represented an additional in-hospital mortality marker. • Most patients implanted with PM were not dependent at long-term follow-up. Aortic valve infective endocarditis may be complicated by high-degree atrioventricular block in up to 10–20% of cases. To assess high-degree atrioventricular block occurrence, contributing factors, prognosis and evolution in patients referred for aortic infective endocarditis. Two hundred and five patients referred for aortic valve infective endocarditis between January 2018 and March 2021 were included in this study. A comprehensive assessment of clinical, electrocardiographic, biological, microbiological and imaging data was conducted, with a follow-up carried out over 1 year. High-degree atrioventricular block occurred in 22 (11%) patients. In univariate analysis, high-degree atrioventricular block was associated with first-degree heart block at admission (odds ratio 3.1; P = 0.015), periannular complication on echocardiography (odds ratio 6.9; P < 0.001) and severe biological inflammatory syndrome, notably C-reactive protein (127 vs 90 mg/L; P = 0.011). In-hospital mortality (12.7%) was higher in patients with high-degree atrioventricular block (odds ratio 4.0; P = 0.011) in univariate analysis. Of the 16 patients implanted with a permanent pacemaker for high-degree atrioventricular block and interrogated, only four (25%) were dependent on the pacing function at 1-year follow-up. High-degree atrioventricular block is associated with high inflammation markers and periannular complications, especially if first-degree heart block is identified at admission. High-degree atrioventricular block is a marker of infectious severity, and tends to raise the in-hospital mortality rate. Systematic assessment of patients admitted for infective endocarditis suspicion, considering these contributing factors, could indicate intensive care unit monitoring or even temporary pacemaker implantation in those at highest risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Patients were not satisfied with their ICD-related knowledge before implantation. • Knowledge improved markedly between ICD implantation and questionnaire completion. • Physicians, the Internet and patient associations are the best information sources. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators reduce mortality, but the electric shocks delivered can impact the patient's quality of life. Patient education is an efficient way to reduce the stress related to both the device and the disease. We assessed the evolution of knowledge and satisfaction of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator recipients regarding their cardiac disease, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation, follow-up complications, remote monitoring and daily life recommendations. Quality of life, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator-related stress levels and remote monitoring benefits were also evaluated. A self-administered questionnaire of 43 items was published on the French Association of Cardiac Electrical Device Wearers (APODEC) website and sent to registered patients. Overall, 330 patients completed the survey. Physicians were the patients' principal information source regarding their cardiac disease (86.7%) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (93.3%), and 90% looked for further information after the procedure, mainly on websites (78.8%). More than half of the patients were not sufficiently informed about implantable cardioverter-defibrillators before implantation (61.2%). In the patients' opinion, the best sources of further information were their physician (81.8%), patient associations (63.6%) and the Internet (45.8%). Although patient knowledge increased during follow-up, their knowledge could be improved regarding daily life with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (52.1%), remote monitoring (34.2%) and their cardiac disease (32.1%). Remote monitoring follow-up was used by 92.1% of patients and mostly improved their peace of mind (67.8%). Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shocks were associated with major stress for patients receiving them (46.6%). These findings highlight the lack of information provided to implantable cardioverter-defibrillator recipients before implantation, a concerning issue to be addressed in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • France PCI: a multicentre observational percutaneous coronary intervention registry. • Entirely integrated with a variety of local PCI-reporting software. • Onsite local research assistants. • These features allow low-cost high-quality data to be obtained. • Annual online activity reports, scoring and benchmarking tools. • These elements ensure immediate feedback to users to improve clinical practice. • Local pilot experience launched in 2014, and expanded to 47 centres in 2022. • > 170,000 PCI and 80,000 ACS cases collected, with systematic 1-year follow-up. • 15 international publications released, and numerous scientific studies ongoing. • Nested randomized controlled trials and merging with SNDS planned for 2024. Obstructive coronary artery disease is the main cause of death worldwide. By tracking events and gaining feedback on patient management, the most relevant information is provided to public health services to further improve prognosis. To create an inclusive and accurate registry of all percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedures performed in France, to assess and improve the quality of care and create research incentives. Also, to describe the methodology of this French national registry of interventional cardiology, and present early key findings. The France PCI registry is a multicentre observational registry that includes consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography and/or PCI. The registry was set up to provide online data analysis and structured reports of PCI activity, including process of care measures and assessment of risk-adjusted outcomes in all French PCI centres that are willing to participate. More than 150 baseline data items, describing demographic status, PCI indications and techniques, and in-hospital and 1-year outcomes, are captured into local reporting software by medical doctors and local research technicians, with subsequent encryption and internet transfer to central data servers. Annual activity reports and scoring tools available on the France PCI website enable users to benchmark and improve clinical practices. External validation and consistency assessments are performed, with feedback of data completeness to centres. Between 01 January 2014 and 31 December 2022, participating centres increased from six to 47, and collected 364,770 invasive coronary angiograms and 176,030 PCIs, including 54,049 non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction cases and 31,631 ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction cases. Fifteen studies stemming from the France PCI registry have already been published. This fully electronic, daily updated, high-quality, low-cost, national registry is sustainable, and is now expanding. Merging with medicoeconomic databases and nested randomized scientific studies are ongoing steps to expand its scientific potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Patients with history of cancer had a higher incidence of death, MI and stroke. • In competing-risk analysis, death incidence was lower in patients with prior cancer. • Risk of myocardial infarction varied according to the organ locations of cancer. Limited data are available regarding the optimal management and prognosis of patients with cancer who develop an acute myocardial infarction. The objective of this study was to analyse the characteristics and outcomes of patients according to cancer and myocardial infarction occurrence. Based on the French administrative hospital discharge database, the study collected information for all consecutive patients seen in French hospitals in 2013, excluding those with a history of myocardial infarction. The population was divided into two groups according to their history of cancer. We studied the following outcomes: all-cause and cardiovascular mortality; acute myocardial infarction; and ischaemic stroke. Data were collected after a 5-year follow-up. Between 2013 and 2019, 3,381,472 patients were seen in French hospitals; among them, 3,323,757 had no history of myocardial infarction. Patients with a history of cancer (n = 497,593) had higher incidences of all-cause mortality (17.82%/year vs 3.79%/year), cardiovascular mortality (1.61%/year vs 1.17%/year), myocardial infarction (0.82%/year vs 0.61%/year) and ischaemic stroke (0.91%/year vs 0.62%/year) compared with patients without cancer (n = 2,826,164). After performing an adjusted competing-risk analysis, the cumulative incidence of acute myocardial infarction, cardiovascular death and ischaemic stroke incidence was found to be lower in patients with a history of cancer, whereas death of non-cardiac origin was more prevalent in patients with a history of cancer. In this observational study, we have shown that patients with cancer have a higher incidence of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality and myocardial infarction. However, multivariable analysis showed a lower cumulative incidence of these events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Right bundle branch block confers a high risk of atrioventricular block after TAVI. • Postprocedural back-up temporary pacing is indicated for 24–48 hours. • Active fixation lead temporary pacing could reduce tamponade and lead dislodgement. • Patient comfort and mobility could be improved with this strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) have been demonstrated to be highly effective in both primary and secondary prevention. Even though ICD therapy was proven to reduce mortality, ICD shocks can generate anxiety and pain for the patients, significantly impacting their quality of life. Patient education has recently been presented as an efficient tool to decrease the level of stress induced by both the device and the disease, but patient satisfaction regarding received information has not yet been evaluated. This research aimed to assess the evolution of knowledge and satisfaction of ICD recipients regarding their underlying cardiac disease, ICD implantation procedure, complications during follow-up, remote monitoring, and daily life recommendations. Quality of life, ICD-related stress levels, and remote monitoring benefits were also evaluated. A self-administered questionnaire of 43 items was published on the French Association of Patients with Electric Cardiac Devices (APODEC) website and sent to registered patients. Overall, 330 patients completed the survey. Physicians were the patients' principal information source regarding their cardiac disease (86.7%) and ICD (93.3%). One-third of patients did not receive an ICD information leaflet and 90% looked for further information after the procedure, mainly on websites (78.8%). More than half of the patients considered that they were not sufficiently informed on ICDs before implantation (61.2%). In patients' opinion, the best ways to provide them further information were their physician (81.8%), patient associations (63.6%), and the Internet (45.8%). Although patient knowledge increased during follow-up, the main topics on which their knowledge could be improved were living with an ICD (52.1%), remote monitoring (34.2%), and their cardiac disease (32.1%). Remote monitoring follow-up was used by 92.1% of patients and mostly improved their peace of mind (67.8%). ICD shocks were associated with major stress for patients receiving them (46.6%). These findings highlight the lack of information provided to ICD recipients before implanting the device, an alarming issue which needs to be addressed in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)