Differential Effectiveness of Landiolol Between Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Flutter/Atrial Tachycardia Patients With Left Ventricular Dysfunction

Optimal timing of electrical cardioversion for acute decompensated heart failure caused by atrial arrhythmias: The earlier, the better?

The optimal timing for electrical cardioversion (ECV) in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) with atrial arrhythmias (AAs) is unknown. Here, we retrospectively evaluated the impact of ECV timing on SR maintenance, hospitalization duration, and cardiac function in patients with ADHF and AAs. Between October 2017 and December 2022, ECV was attempted in 73 patients (62 with atrial fibrillation and 11 with atrial flutter). Patients were classified into two groups based on the median number of days from hospitalization to ECV, as follows: early ECV (within 8 days, n = 38) and delayed ECV (9 days or more, n = 35). The primary endpoint was very short-term and short-term ECV failure (unsuccessful cardioversion and AA recurrence during hospitalization and within one month after ECV). Secondary endpoints included (1) acute ECV success, (2) ECVs attempted, (3) periprocedural complications, (4) transthoracic echocardiographic parameter changes within two months following successful ECV, and (5) hospitalization duration. ECV successfully restored SR in 62 of 73 patients (85%), with 10 (14%) requiring multiple ECV attempts (≥ 3), and periprocedural complications occurring in six (8%). Very short-term and short-term ECV failure occurred without between-group differences (51% vs. 63%, P = 0.87 and 61% vs. 72%, P = 0.43, respectively). Among 37 patients who underwent echocardiography before and after ECV success, the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) significantly increased (38% [31-52] to 51% [39-63], P = 0.008) between admission and follow-up. Additionally, hospital stay length was shorter in the early ECV group than in the delayed ECV group (14 days [12-21] vs. 17 days [15-26], P < 0.001). Hospital stay duration was also correlated with days from admission to ECV (Spearman's ρ = 0.47, P < 0.001). In clinical practice, early ECV was associated with a shortened hospitalization duration and significantly increased LVEF in patients with ADHF and AAs.

The Optimal Management of Patients with Atrial Fibrillation and Acute Heart Failure in the Emergency Department

Atrial fibrillation (AF) and acute heart failure (AHF) are two closely interrelated conditions that frequently coexist in a manifold manner, with AF serving either as the causative factor or as the consequence or even as an innocent bystander. The interplay between these two clinical conditions is complex, given that they share common pathophysiological pathways and they can reciprocally exacerbate each other, thus triggering a vicious cycle that worsens the prognosis and increases the thromboembolic risk. The optimal management of AF in the context of AHF in the emergency department remains a challenge depending on the time onset, as well as the nature and the severity of the associated symptoms. Acute rate control, along with early rhythm control, when indicated, and anticoagulation represent the main pillars of the therapeutic intervention. The purpose of this review is to elucidate the pathophysiological link between AF and AHF and accordingly present a stepwise algorithmic approach for the management of AF in AHF patients in the emergency setting.

Optimal use of intravenous landiolol in acute cardiac care

INTRODUCTION

B-blockers are regarded as beneficial pharmacologic agents in cardiac care, but their role in the acute setting remains ambiguous. Increasing evidence supports the important role of landiolol in critical care, a highly cardioselective intravenous b-blocker with rapid onset of action and short elimination time. Among its most valuable properties, which may aid to overcome special reservations related to b-blocker therapy in the acute setting, landiolol has a potent negative chronotropic effect while at the same time it exhibits a mild negative inotropic effect.

AREAS COVERED

This expert opinion review aims to present basic pharmacologic aspects of landiolol and provide current clinical research focused on its efficacy and safety.

EXPERT OPINION

Landiolol is a valuable and safe pharmacologic agent in acute cardiac care. Japanese and European guidelines have incorporated its use for the management of atrial tachyarrhythmia in patients with cardiac dysfunction. Although emerging clinical trials have experimented its use in patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation, acute myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous intervention and in patients with septic cardiomyopathy, more studies are needed in order to establish its value in such cardiac conditions.

Stacked machine learning models to classify atrial disorders based on clinical ECG features: a method to predict early atrial fibrillation

OBJECTIVES

Atrial Tachycardia (AT) and Left Atrial Enlargement (LAE) are atrial diseases that are significant precursors to Atrial Fibrillation (AF). There are ML models for ECG classification; clinical features-based classification is required. The suggested work aims to create stacked ML models that categorize Sinus Rhythm (SR), Sinus Tachycardia (ST), AT, and LAE signals based on clinical parameters for AF prognosis.

METHODS

The classification was based on thirteen clinical parameters, such as amplitude, time domain ECG aspects, and P-Wave Indices (PWI), such as the ratio of P-wave length and amplitude ((P (ms)/P (µV)), P-wave area (µV*ms), and P-wave terminal force (PTFV1(µV*ms). Apart from classifying the ECG signals, the stacked ML models prioritized the clinical features using a pie formula-based technique.

RESULTS

The Stack 1 model achieves 99% accuracy, sensitivity, precision, and F1 score, while the Stack 2 model achieves 91%, 91%, 94%, and 92% for identifying SR, ST, LAE, and AT, respectively. Both stack models obtained a computational time of 0.06 seconds. PTFV1 (µV*ms), P (ms)/P (µV)), and P-wave area (µV*ms) were ranked as crucial clinical features.

CONCLUSION

Clinical feature-based stacking ML models may help doctors obtain insight into important clinical ECG aspects for early AF prediction.

OUP accepted manuscript

Atrial tachyarrhythmias often occur in patients with worsening heart failure (HF), and the development of atrial tachyarrhythmias in acute decompensated HF (ADHF) causes an uncontrolled heart rate (HR) and leads to further exacerbation of HF and persistence of a decompensated HF state. Landiolol, a short-acting intravenous beta-1 blocker, shows very high cardiac beta-1 selectivity and has a very short elimination half-life of approximately 4 min. As shown in several reports, the benefit of intravenous landiolol is that it lowers the ventricular rate early after the start of use without markedly deteriorating haemodynamics. After the cardiac status is stabilized by rapid control of HR, subsequent basic HF pharmacotherapy and rhythm control therapies will be effective for improving outcomes. Because of the pharmacokinetic properties of landiolol, if the patient suffers an adverse reaction such as hypotension or bradycardia, such effects can be quickly reversed by tapering the dose or discontinuing use altogether. Based on several clinical studies, this review discusses the efficacy, safety and role of intravenous landiolol in acute HR control in patients with atrial tachyarrhythmias and ADHF.

OUP accepted manuscript

Atrial tachyarrhythmias and worsening heart failure frequently coexist and potentially progress to a life threatening condition. Therapeutic approach requires simultaneous management of rapid ventricular response and heart failure symptom relief in order to improve haemodynamic stability and cardiac function. Landiolol is an ultra-short-acting b-adrenergic receptor blocker with high b1 selectivity incorporated in 2020 European Society of Cardiology guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. We provide a report of two cases with atrial fibrillation treated with landiolol in the acute setting of pulmonary oedema and cardiogenic shock, respectively. Additionally, we searched the international database PUBMED (MEDLINE, PubMed Central) to retrieve scientific evidence regarding its implementation in the treatment of atrial tachyarrhythmias in patients with cardiac dysfunction. Recent studies support the use of landiolol in patients with acute heart failure and atrial tachyarrhythmias. Compared to digoxin, landiolol proved to be more effective in controlling heart rate, with minimal adverse effects. Moreover, landiolol may be helpful in the conversion of atrial tachyarrhythmia to sinus rhythm. A more potent effect has been reported in patients with heart failure with preserved or mildly reduced ejection fraction, small left ventricular volume and high blood pressure. Likewise, administration of low doses of landiolol in patients with cardiogenic shock and atrial tachyarrhythmias reduced heart rate and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure and improved cardiac contractility without reducing blood pressure. Landiolol seems to be an attractive alternative in the acute management of patients with atrial tachyarrhythmias and cardiac dysfunction, though further clinical trials are needed to establish its role.

Clinical usefulness of left ventricular outflow tract velocity time integral for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction with rapid atrial fibrillation during landiolol treatment

BACKGROUND

Landiolol enables us to treat the patients with rapid atrial fibrillation (AF) with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) efficiently. We sought to determine the role of echocardiography in predicting the prognosis.

METHODS

Among 314 patients, a total 115 ADHF patients with reduced ejection fraction and rapid AF were enrolled. They received landiolol treatment to decrease the heart rate (HR) to <110 bpm and change HR (ΔHR) of >20% within 24 h. The dose of landiolol was increased every 2 h; then, we performed echocardiography repeatedly, at baseline, 2 h, and 24h. We followed the patients after discharge for 180 days, and checked cardiac death and HF hospitalization as major adverse cardiac events (MACE).

RESULTS

During initial hospitalization, 5 patients (4%) died. During 180 days after discharge, 19 (16%) out of 115 patients experienced MACE (2 cardiac death, 17 HF rehospitalization, 5 in-hospital death). Multivariate analysis showed that the change in left ventricular outflow tract-velocity time integral (LVOT-VTI) at 2 h was the most significant predictor for MACE (hazard ratio =1.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.10-1.83, p=0.0001). Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated the patients with deteriorated LVOT-VTI at minimum dose landiolol suggested the high-risk patients for MACE (χ²=30.9, p<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

During landiolol treatment, the patients with deteriorated LVOT-VTI predicted the poor prognosis. We may detect the high-risk patients by two-point echocardiography. UMIN000020084. Registered 1 November 2013 - prospective study https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr.cgi?function=brows&action=brows&type=summary&language=J&recptno=R000023203.

Novel rate control strategy with landiolol in patients with cardiac dysfunction and atrial fibrillation

While patients with acute heart failure often have tachycardia with atrial fibrillation, there have been no established medical tools that control tachycardia safely and definitely. Digoxin has been recommended as a first choice in the former guidelines, but it takes time to affect and has a risk of adverse events particularly for those with chronic kidney disease. Landiolol is a recently innovated ultra‐short‐acting beta‐blocker with 251‐fold β1/β2 selectivity, which was originally indicated only to control peri‐operative supra‐ventricular tachyarrhythmia by 2013 in Japan. We aimed to review how to use landiolol in patients with cardiac dysfunction and tachycardia due to atrial fibrillation. We reviewed recently conducted randomized control trials using landiolol, recently updated guidelines, as well as current practical use of landiolol. Japan landiolol vs. Digoxin (J‐Land) study demonstrated that landiolol was more effective to control tachycardia than digoxin in atrial fibrillation patients with left ventricular dysfunction in 2013. Given the result, the revised Japanese heart failure guideline recommends landiolol for rate control during atrial fibrillation in acute heart failure patients as Class IIa with evidence level B. Currently in Japan, landiolol is used for rate control, even in patients with advanced heart failure receiving continuous infusion of inotropes. The clinical use of landiolol in patients with cardiac dysfunction and tachycardia due to atrial fibrillation is increasing. Further studies are warranted to investigate the implication of faster and safer rate control using landiolol.

Atrial pacing and administration of nifekalant hydrochloride for unstable atrial fibrillation: a case report

Background

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and can deteriorate haemodynamic status.

Case summary

We report a case of a 77-year-old woman with cardiogenic shock due to paroxysmal AF, complicated with HCM and aortic stenosis. Atrial fibrillation was successfully managed with temporary atrial pacing and administration of nifekalant hydrochloride without invasive mechanical circulatory support until surgery. Septal myectomy, aortic valve replacement, and pulmonary vein isolation were performed.

Discussion

This case suggests that atrial pacing and nifekalant may be safe and effective for rhythm control.

Evaluating the Therapeutic Efficacy and Safety of Landiolol Hydrochloride for Management of Arrhythmia in Critical Settings: Review of the Literature

Background

Landiolol hydrochloride, a highly cardio-selective beta-1 blocker with an ultra-short-acting half-life of 4 minutes, was originally approved by Japan for treatment of intraoperative tachyarrhythmias. This review aims to provide an integrated overview of the current state of knowledge of landiolol hydrochloride in the management of arrhythmia in critical settings.

Methods

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library to retrieve relevant articles with a total of 65 records identified.

Results

The high β1 selectivity (β1/β2 ratio of 255:1) of landiolol causes a more rapid heart rate (HR) decrease compared to esmolol while avoiding decreases in mean arterial blood pressure. Recently, it has been found useful in left ventricular dysfunction patients and fatal arrhythmia requiring emergency treatment. Recent random clinical trials (RCT) have revealed therapeutic and prophylactic effects on arrhythmia, and very low-dose landiolol might be effective for preventing postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) and sinus tachycardia. Likewise, landiolol is an optimal choice for perioperative tachycardia treatment during cardiac surgery. The high β1 selectivity of landiolol is useful in heart failure patients as a first-line therapy for tachycardia and arrhythmia as it avoids the typical depression of cardiac function seen in other β-blockers. Application in cardiac injury after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), protection for vital organs (lung, kidney, etc.) during sepsis, and stabilizing hemodynamics in pediatric patients are becoming the new frontier of landiolol use.

Conclusion

Landiolol is useful as a first-line therapy for the prevention of POAF after cardiac/non-cardiac surgery, fatal arrhythmias in heart failure patients and during PCI. Moreover, the potential therapeutic effect of landiolol for sepsis in pediatric patients is currently being explored. As positive RCT results continue to be published, new clinical uses and further clinical studies in various settings by cardiologists, intensivists and pediatric cardiologists are being conducted.

Urgent Control of Rapid Atrial Fibrillation by Landiolol in Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure With Severely Reduced Ejection Fraction

Background: We investigated the clinical usefulness of landiolol for rapid atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) and identify the patients eligible for landiolol.

Methods and Results: A total of 101 ADHF patients with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) with rapid AF were enrolled. Immediately after admission, an initial dose of landiolol was given (1 μg/kg⁻¹/min⁻¹), and then the dose was increased to decrease heart rate (HR) to <110 beats/min and change HR (∆HR) >20% in ≤24 h. Thirty-seven were monitored using right heart catheterization at 3 points (baseline, 1 μg/kg⁻¹/min⁻¹, and maximum dose). We checked the major adverse events (MAE) during initial hospitalization, which included cardiac death, HF prolongation (required i.v. treatment at 30 days), and worsening renal function. The average maximum dose of landiolol was 3.8±2.3 μg/kg⁻¹/min⁻¹. HR (P<0.0001) and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (P=0.0008) decreased safely. MAE occurred in 39 patients. The patients with left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic volume index <84.0 mL/m² and mean blood pressure (mean BP) >97 mmHg had less frequent MAE (P<0.0001).

Conclusions: Landiolol was effective for safely controlling rapid AF in patients with HFrEF with ADHF, leading to hemodynamic improvement and avoidance of short-term MAE, especially in patients with relatively smaller LV and higher BP.