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J Schläpfer

Publications and source records attributed to J Schläpfer.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

[What do we actually know about out-of-hospital cardiac arrest?].

Each year at least 300,000 people in the United States and 8000 to 10,000 people in Switzerland suffer from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, mostly due to ventricular fibrillation. Early defibrillation provides definitive treatment for most of cardiac arrest victims. Semi-automatic external defibrillators are easy to handle devices allowing to deliver an early electric shock and can be successfully used by lay people following minimal training. Newer strategies of defibrillation designed to respond faster to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, including public access defibrillation, as well as improvement of each link of the chain of survival appears as the best strategy for the management of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

Death, Sudden, Cardiac↗
PubMed2003

Development of a cytogenetic map for the Chinese raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides procyonoides) and the arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) genomes, using canine-derived microsatellite probes.

New chromosomal assignments of canine-derived cosmid clones containing microsatellites to the Chinese raccoon dog and arctic fox genomes are presented in the study. The localizations are in agreement with data obtained from comparative chromosome painting experiments between the dog and arctic fox genomes. However, paracentric inversions have been detected by comparing the loci order in canid karyotypes. The number of physically mapped loci increased to thirty-five both in the Chinese raccoon dog and in the arctic fox. Furthermore, the present status of the cytogenetic map of the Chinese raccoon dog and arctic fox is presented in this study.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

[Open heart radio frequency left atrial compartmentation during mitral valve surgery: an alternative to the labyrinth procedure?].

The authors report their experience of radiofrequency left atrial compartimentation during open heart mitral valve surgery on 37 patients with a 42 +/- 12 months history of atrial fibrillation. The preoperative left ventricular ejection fraction was 62 +/- 8%; the left atrial diameter was 59 +/- 11 mm. The mean operative time was 245 +/- 60 minutes, which included 19 +/- 5 minutes for the ablation procedure. There were 2 early postoperative deaths and 2 deaths from non-cardiac causes at 3 and 6 months. The left ventricular ejection fraction and left atrial dimension were significantly decreased at the time of hospital discharge (54 +/- 12% and 51 +/- 7 mm respectively) (p < 0.01). After an average follow-up of 1 year, 81% of patients were free of atrial fibrillation: 6 patients had undergone DC cardioversion and 1 had a dual-chamber pacemaker. Patients in sinus rhythm after the ablation were associated with shorter periods of atrial fibrillation and smaller left atrial dimensions postoperatively than those who remained in fibrillation. The authors conclude that radiofrequency compartimentation of the left atrium associated with antiarrhythmic therapy can interrupt atrial fibrillation in 81% of patients at 1 year: the ablation procedure takes only 8% of the operation time. Predictive factors of success of ablation should be defined to determine which patients benefit most from this technique.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Late clinical outcome after successful radiofrequency catheter ablation of accessory pathways.

AIMS: To evaluate the long-term clinical results of patients who underwent successful radiofrequency catheter ablation of a symptomatic drug-resistant accessory-pathway-mediated tachycardia. METHODS AND RESULTS: Clinical follow-up was done by direct contact with the patients and their physicians. One hundred and eighty consecutive patients (113 males, 67 females) were followed during a median period of 48.1 months. There were seven procedure related complications (4%). During the follow-up period, 79% of the patients remained asymptomatic; 14% complained of short bouts of palpitations due to isolated or short runs of atrial or ventricular premature beats; 7% had sustained palpitations due either to accessory pathway recurrence (4%) or supraventricular tachyarrhythmias not associated with an accessory pathway (3%). Symptoms due to accessory pathway recurrence appeared either in the first month following the ablation or at least later than 3 months when sustained supraventricular arrhythmias occurred related to another cause. CONCLUSIONS: Initially successful radiofrequency catheter ablation has a low, long-term recurrence rate (4%). Recurrence of accessory-pathway-mediated tachycardia is observed during the first month while later symptoms suggest supraventricular arrhythmias from another cause.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

[Implantable defibrillator. Update].

The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator is a device able to detect and efficiently treat life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. Its decisive accomplishment in reducing sudden cardiac death and total cardiac mortality, opposed to the insufficient reliability of the traditional therapies explains its present ascendancy. In this review, the working principles and the implant techniques are developed, as well as the complications and the usual problems which could be encountered in implanted patients. Finally, the current indications are discussed in the light of recent clinical trials.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗
PubMed2000

Chromosome identification and assignment of DNA clones in the dog using a red fox and dog comparative map.

We have developed a novel method for identifying dog chromosomes and unambiguously mapping specific clones onto canine chromosomes. This method uses a previously established red fox/dog comparative chromosome map to guide the FISH mapping of cloned canine DNA. Mixing metaphase preparations of the red fox and dog enabled a single hybridization to be performed on both species. We used this approach to map the chromosomal locations of twenty-six canine cosmids. Each cosmid contains highly polymorphic microsatellite markers currently used by the DogMap project to compile the canine linkage map. All but two cosmids were successfully assigned to subchromosomal regions on red fox and dog chromosomes. For eight cosmids previously mapped on dog chromosomes, we confirmed and refined the canine chromosomal assignments of seven cosmids and corrected an erroneous assignment regarding cosmid CanBern1. These results demonstrate that the red fox and dog comparative chromosome map can greatly improve the accuracy and efficiency of chromosomal assignments of canine genetic markers by FISH.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

What risk should justify implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapy?

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) were developed to prevent sudden cardiac death in patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT) or ventricular fibrillation (VF). Their safety and efficacy have been proved in multiple retrospective and prospective studies. Many of the published trials were directed at secondary prevention for patients who had already had a sudden cardiac death or a sustained VT. For primary prevention, the information available is limited, as only 2 trials have yet been published. Ongoing trials will probably allow us to broaden the indications for prophylactic ICD implantation. Justification of the risk will have to be evaluated against complexity of the implant, the latter including not only cost but quality of life and morbidity associated with an ICD. However, our efforts still have to be directed to improve risk stratification and to decrease the complexity of the procedure.

Death, Sudden, Cardiac↗