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Background: Recurrence after atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation is frequent. Monitoring with long-term electrocardiograms (ECGs) is constrained by limited monitoring time, measurement dispersion, and cost. Selected photoplethysmography (PPG) smartphone applications have demonstrated excellent accuracy for AF detection and could mitigate these limitations., Objective: We aimed to compare the effectiveness of digital follow-up using a PPG-based smartphone application against conventional ECG-based follow-up for the detection of atrial arrhythmia recurrence after ablation., Methods: Patients undergoing AF ablation were consecutively enrolled and monitored by a 24-hour ECG at 3, 6, and 12 months on top of the ECGs conducted for clinical indications (conventional follow-up). In addition, patients were instructed to perform PPG measurements twice daily or whenever symptoms were perceived during the course of 1 year (digital follow-up)., Results: In total, 96 patients (69% male; mean age, 64 ± 9 years) performed 39,895 PPG measurements. The compliance rate (number performed/prescribed) was 92.6% for ECGs and 78.2% for PPG recordings. After 1 year of follow-up, atrial arrhythmia recurrence was detected in 17.7% of patients by conventional follow-up and in 38.5% of patients by digital follow-up (odds ratio, 3.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7-7.1). The CI lower limit exceeded the predefined noninferiority margin (P for noninferiority > .001). Hence, superiority was tested (P for superiority = .001). The negative predictive value of digital follow-up for atrial arrhythmia detected with conventional follow-up was 98.3% (95% CI, 90.9%-99.9%)., Conclusion: Digital rhythm follow-up using a smartphone application with PPG was noninferior to conventional follow-up in detecting atrial arrhythmia recurrence between 3 and 12 months after ablation. Moreover, digital follow-up significantly increased the detection of atrial arrhythmia., Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Background: An acute increase in blood pressure is associated with the occurrence of premature ventricular complexes (PVCs)., Objective: We aimed to study the timing of these PVCs with respect to afterload-induced changes in myocardial deformation in a controlled, preclinically relevant, novel closed-chest pig model., Methods: An acute left ventricular (LV) afterload challenge was induced by partial balloon inflation in the descending aorta, lasting 5-10 heartbeats (8 pigs; 396 inflations)., Results: Balloon inflation enhanced the reflected wave (augmentation index 30% ± 8% vs 59% ± 6%; P < .001), increasing systolic central blood pressure by 35% ± 4%. This challenge resulted in a more abrupt LV pressure decline, which was delayed beyond ventricular repolarization (rate of pressure decline 0.16 ± 0.01 mm Hg/s vs 0.27 ± 0.04 mm Hg/ms; P < .001 and interval T-wave to peak pressure 1 ± 12 ms vs 36 ± 9 ms; P = .008), during which the velocity of myocardial shortening at the basal septum increased abruptly (ie, postsystolic shortening) (peak strain rate -0.6 ± 0.5 s(-1) vs -2.5 ± 0.8 s(-1); P < .001). It is exactly at this time of LV pressure decline, with increased postsystolic shortening, and not at peak pressure, that PVCs occur (22% of inflations). These PVCs preferentially occurred at the basal and apical segments. In the same regions, monophasic action potentials demonstrated the appearance of delayed afterdepolarization-like transient depolarizations as origin of PVCs., Conclusion: An acute blood pressure increase results in a more abrupt LV pressure decline, which is delayed after ventricular repolarization. This has a profound effect on myocardial mechanics with enhanced postsystolic shortening. Coincidence with induced transient depolarizations and PVCs provides support for the mechanoelectrical origin of pressure-induced premature beats., (Copyright © 2015 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)