The Lead Podcast presented by Heart Rhythm Society

Please join HRS Digital Education Committee Vice-Chair, Tina Baykaner, MD, MPH, of Stanford University, as she is joined by Heart Rhythm Society President Mina K. Chung, MD, FHRS, of the Cleveland Clinic, and Konstantinos C. Siontis, MD, FHRS of the May Clinic. The three met up in Altanta at HRX 2025 for this stimulating coversation.

This study evaluated whether artificial intelligence applied to single-lead ambulatory ECGs could ...

Melissa E. Middeldorp, MPH, PhD, University of Adelaide is joined by Jenelle Dziano, Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders, The University of Adelaide and Jared Bunch, MD, FHRS, University of Utah School of Medicine, to discuss a study that investigated the relationship between atrial fibrillation (AF), brain glymphatic function, and cognitive performance. Using MRI-derived diffusion tensor imaging along the perivascular space (DTI-ALP...

William H. Sauer, MD, FHRS, Brigham and Women's Hospital is joined by Wendy S. Tzou, MD, FHRS, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Kishan Padalia, MD, University of Colorado, to discuss the results of ablation of sustained monomorphic ventricular tachycardia (SMVT) are suboptimal. For many patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), ICD electrograms (ICD-EGs) provide the only available information o...

Deep Chandh Raja, MBBS, MD, PhD, Australian National University, Kauvery Hospital is joined by Andreas Pflaumer, MD, FHRS, CEPS-P, Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne and Maully J. Shah, MBBS, FHRS, CCDS, CEPS-P Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, to discuss the unmet clinical need for a smaller pacemaker suitable for neonates and infants, researchers developed a specially modified implantable pulse generator incorporating a Medtr...

Melissa E. Middeldorp, MPH, PhD is joined by Martin K. Stiles, MBChB, PhD, FHRS, University of Auckland and Waikato Hospital and Eloi Marijon, MD, PhD, Paris University & European Georges Pompidou Hospital, to discuss this Danish nationwide study examines the relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) as well as all-cause mortality (ACM). Analyzing all deaths in Denmark from 2010, researchers f...

Melissa E. Middeldorp, MPH, PhD is joined by Thomas F. Deering, BS, MBA, MD, FHRS, CCDS, and T. Jared Bunch, MD, FHRS to discuss a 31-item questionnaire was developed and distributed among healthcare professionals via the EHRA network and social media between 23 September and 21 October 2024.

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https://academic.oup.com/europace/article/27/4/euaf075/8099191?login=false

Host Disclosure(s):

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Please join host Michael S. Lloyd, MD, FHRS at HRS 2025 in San Diego as he discusses this article with Stephanie Wang, MD and Emily Zeitler, MD. The study investigated whether PFA-induced coronary spasms during ablation could cause lasting changes—such as mild lumen narrowing—at the ablation site over a three-month period.

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https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacep.2025.03.014

Host Disclo...

Please join host Jason T. Jacobson, MD, FHRS at HRS 2025 in San Diego as he discusses this article with Marmar Vaseghi, MD, MS, PhD, FHRS and Mayank Sardana, MBBS, MS. The prospective, multicenter, randomized BRAVE trial evaluated epicardial catheter ablation targeting the arrhythmogenic substrate in Brugada syndrome patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) to prevent ventricular fibrillation (VF). After a plann...

This late-breaking randomized trial, published online on April 26, 2025 in Heart Rhythm, demonstrated that using CT scan guidance for ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation significantly shortens procedure time while maintaining a safety profile comparable to conventional methods. In essence, CT-guided ablation offers a faster, equally safe alternative for VT treatment. A discussion of the late breakers was recorded live in San Dieg...

Left Bundle Area Pacing in Hypertrophied Hearts: An Ex Vivo Ovine Model to Study Deployment of Pacing Leads in Thick Septum describes the development of a novel ex vivo sheep heart model with induced septal hypertrophy to simulate challenging left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) scenarios. The study evaluates the deployment characteristics and fixation behavior of pacing leads in thickened septal tissue, aiming to improve procedu...

Join us at Heart Rhythm 2025 for the discussion of this study. Between July 2014 and June 2023, researchers tracked 641 sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) incidents in U.S. athletes aged 11–29. Overall survival was 49%, rising to 57% during exercise, and reaching 70% in game/competition settings compared to 53% during practice. Survival rates improved significantly over the nine years, yet notable racial disparities persisted: Black athle...

This global, multicenter registry included 2,579 CRT recipients with LVEF ≤ 50% who underwent either LBBAP or conventional biventricular pacing (BVP), with 780 matched pairs analyzed. Over a mean follow-up of 34 ± 15 months, LBBAP significantly reduced the combined endpoint of all-cause death or first heart failure hospitalization (22.2% vs 30.8%; HR 0.81; P≈0.048), largely driven by fewer HF hospitalizations (13.6% vs 20.8%; HR 0....

Join HRS Board Member Prashanthan Sanders, MBBS, PhD, FHRS (University of Adelaide) as he discusses this exciting paper, presented at Heart Rhythm 2025. He is joined in the Heart Rhythm Tv Studio in San Diego, California by Louise Segan, MBBS, MPH (Alfred Health), and Takanori Yamaguchi, MD, PhD (Saga University). This discussion took place on-site at Heart Rhythm 2025.

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Prashanthan Sanders, MBBS, PhD, FHRS, University of Adelaide is joined by Jenish Shroff, MBBS, MD, Australian National University, and Pugazhendhi Vijayaraman, MD, FHRS, Geisinger Heart Institute, to discuss this first-in-human feasibility study evaluated a novel helix-based leadless pacemaker (LPCSP) designed to achieve left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP), a capability current LPs lack. The device was temporarily implanted via ...

Michael S. Lloyd, MD, FHRS, Emory University is joined by Edward P. Gerstenfeld, MD, MS, FHRS, University of California, San Francisco, and Christopher C Cheung, MD, MPH, FHRS, Sunnybrook HSC, University of Toronto, to discuss the VOLT-AF IDE study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of a novel balloon-based pulsed field ablation (PFA) catheter system for treating paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation (PAF and PsAF). Con...

Sandeep A Saha, MD, MS, FHRS, Oregon Heart Center PC is joined by Saket Sanghai, MD, FHRS, Oregon Health & Science University, and Naga Venkata Krishna Chand Pothineni, MD, Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute, to discuss how the study evaluated the effectiveness of implantable loop recorders (ILRs) in detecting arrhythmias in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Traditional monitoring methods, like Holter monitors, often...

Join host Elizabeth S DeWitt, MD, CEPS-P, and episode guests Cheyenne Beach, MD, FHRS, CEPS-P, and Robert Przybylski, MD as they discuss Sudden cardiac death is the leading cause of mortality in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Two risk scores—HCM Risk-Kids and PRIMaCY—have been developed to estimate 5-year risk, but their performance in an independent cohort showed limitations. Both tools tended to overestimate ris...

Join host Michael S. Lloyd, MD, FHRS and episode guests Ante Anic, MD and Konstantinos Vlachos, MD as they discuss the recent article Repeat Procedures after Pulsed Field Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation, the MANIFEST-REDO Study, from Europace. This episode was recorded in-person at EHRA 2025. Bonus video footage of the episode is available on heartrhythm265.org.

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https://academic.oup.co...

Join host Prashanthan Sanders, MBBS, PhD, FHRS, and episode guests Jason G. Andrade, MD, FHRS, and Melanie Gunawardene, MD, as they discuss Pulsed Field or Cryoballoon Ablation for Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation. This discussion was recorded in person at EHRA 2025 in Vienna, Austria. The article under discussion was presented at EHRA 2025 and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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