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Aims: The present study investigates whether scientific abstracts, which were accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the German Cardiac Society (DGK) will be published more frequently and with higher ranking than rejected abstracts. Additionally, we analyzed whether the current peer review process of the congress abstracts is able to identify research of high quality., Methods: All abstracts submitted for the DGK meetings between 2006 and 2010 were anonymized and graded by 5-9 reviewers. Based on these ratings, abstracts were accepted or rejected. A Medline search with name of the first author, key words and content of all abstracts was conducted to identify publications following the congress abstracts. In case of identification of a publication, the impact factor (IF) of the journal was assessed., Results: 5535 (66 %) of 8411 submitted abstracts were accepted for presentation (basic reseach: 2497; clinical study: 5914). A total of 23 % of all abstracts were published (IF 3.6). The average time to publication was 0.7 ± 1.2 years, while 35 % of all published studies achieved publication in the year of congress. The publication rate was 26 % for accepted abstracts (IF 3.8) and 17 % (2.4) for rejected abstracts. Basic research achieved higher publication rates than clinical studies (26 % vs. 21 %) and had a higher average impact factor (IF 5.1 vs. 3)., Conclusions: The present study shows that abstracts, which were accepted for presentation achieved a publication more frequently and in higher-ranked journals than rejected abstracts., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Hypertension is the most common chronic cardiovascular disease with increasing prevalence all over the world. Despite the availability of many effective antihypertensive drugs, blood pressure control to target values remains low. In the pathophysiology of therapy resistant hypertension, increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system with an imbalance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity has been identified as a main contributor to the development and maintenance of hypertension. Catheter-based denervation of the renal sympathetic nerves has been described as reducing blood pressure and decreasing sympathetic activity in patients with resistant hypertension. Supplementary beneficial effects on common cardiovascular comorbidities, such as diabetes type 2, have been reported. The present review aims to give an overview about percutaneous renal denervation for treatment of hypertension and potential new therapeutic options to improve glycemic control.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an established therapy for patients with advanced heart failure, depressed left ventricular function, and wide QRS complex. However, about 30 to 45% of patients do not respond to CRT. Assuming that the main therapeutic action of CRT is the correction of dyssynchronous myocardial contraction, a plethora of echocardiographic dyssynchrony parameters have been proposed to improve the prediction of response to CRT. However, one multicenter study has recently questioned the utility of any of these indexes. This review delineates the various causes of non-response to CRT, explains the different levels and mechanisms of dyssynchrony and gives a critical overview of currently available echocardiographic techniques for assessment of dyssynchrony. Based upon a discussion of the evidence coming from randomized multicenter studies and against the background of national and international cardiac societies' guideline recommendations on CRT, a rational basis for the evaluation of patients for CRT is proposed.