Objective To assess endothelial function before and after pharmacological cardioversion for acute onset of atrial fibrillation(AF)in the patients with hypertension.Methods 37 consecutive hypertensive patients with acute AF were investigated,in whom sinus rhythm was restored by pharmacological cardioversion within 48 hours of arrhythmia onset without anticoagulant treatment.Of these 37 patients,17 cases treated with ACEI/ARB drugs were assigned to acute AF group 1,20 cases without using ACEI/ARB drugs were assigned to acute AF group 2.20 hypertensive patients with sinus rhythm were included as control group.Plasma markers of endothelial damage/dysfunction [von Willebrand factor(vWF),endothelin(ET)and nitric oxide(NO)] and E-selectin(E-sel,an index of endothelial activation)were measured in acute AF at baseline(pre-cardioversion)and on days 1,7,14,and 30 after cardioversion.The detected results were compared with the levels of controls.Results Plasma concentrations of ET,vWF and E-sel in acute AF group were significantly higher than those of control group;plasma level of NO in acute AF group was significantly lower compared to that of control group.After cardioversion,the plasma levels of ET decreased gradually to the levels of controls by the 7th day of sustaining sinus rhythm in acute AF group 1 and 30th day in acute AF group 2,and the plasma levels of vWF decreased to approach that of controls by the 14th day post-cardioversion in acute AF group 1 and 30th day in acute AF group 2.The NO level gradually increased to that of controls by the 14th day of sustaining sinus rhythm in acute AF group 1 and 30th day in acute AF group 2.Plasma level of E-sel returned to normal by the 7th day in the both groups of acute AF.Conclusion There were evidences of endothelial damage or dysfunction at acute onset of AF among the patients with hypertension,which persisted up to 30 days after cardioversion,and the use of ACEI/ARB might improve the normalization of endothelial function after cardioversion.

Objective To observe the influence of sea sickness elixir on changes in cardiar rhythm in subjects susceptible to sea-sickness. Methods In a double-blind control test, 50 volunteers, 10 persons not susceptible to sea-sickness (controll group) and 40 persons susceptible to sea-sickness to travel their first sea voyage were enrolled. They were divided into three groups, control group (n=10), placebo group (n=20) and test group (n=20). Sea sickness elixir or placebo was administered half an hour before the sea voyage. The 4h dynamic electrocardiogram was collected and the changes in heart rhythm was analyzed using time-domain, frequency domain analysis methods. Meanwhile the symptoms of sea sickness were recorded. Results Sea sickness elixir did have the effect of preventing sea-sickness. The effective rate in the test group (85%) was significantly higher than control group (20%) (P

Objective To evaluate the curative effect of valsartan associated with low-dose amiodarone on the recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF), the left atrial diameter (LAD), P wave dispersion (Pd) and the maximum P wave duration (Pmax) in patients with paroxysmal AF. Methods 76 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) were randomized to valsartan (test group) and placebo (placebo group), both associated with low-dose amiodarone, and were followed up for 18 months. The patients were asked to report any episode of symptomatic atrial fibrillation and to perform an ECG as early as possible. AF load, Pmax, Pd and LAD were measured before and at the 6th, 12th, and 18th months after the treatment. Results At least one ECG-documented episode of AF was reported in 16% of the patients in test group and in 41% in placebo group, the difference was significant(P