Yee Guan Yap

In recent years there has been considerable interest in the diagnosis and understanding of ventricular repolarisation, particularly the QT interval prolongation and abnormal T and T/U wave morphology associated with torsades de pointes. Advances in ion channel cloning have greatly improved our understanding of the role of ionic channels in mediating cardiac repolarisation. Unfortunately, it is increasingly recognised that a number of drugs, both those associated with altering repolarisation, and others for non-cardiac conditions can increase the propensity for polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, syncope and even ventricular fibrillation and sudden death. In this volume, arrhythmia specialists from St. George’s Hospital Medical School, London discuss the mechanisms behind QT prolongation and torsades de pointes. They focus particularly on the risk of individual cardiac and non-cardiac drugs in provoking long QT syndrome, providing a comprehensive review which will be useful for all electrophysiologists treating polymorphic ventricular tachycardias, and will expose important regulatory issues for pharmaceutical authorities and for the wider medical community.

This handbook offers timely investigation of current pharmaceutical trends, clinical guidelines, novel treatments, and ongoing pipeline developments, including ground-breaking advances in the use of novel oral anticoagulants. ? Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects an estimated 1–2% of the population and is the most common cause of sustained cardiac arrhythmia. Critically, the number of patients developing AF is expected to double in the next five decades, leading to increased incidence of stroke, heart failure and other serious thromboembolic events.