Agnes Muskens-Heemskerk's research while affiliated with Erasmus MC and other places

... In secondary prevention of SUD, in patients with sustained ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation or survivors of sudden cardiac death drug treatment alone is ineffective and can be used as an adjunct to ICD to decrease episodes of ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia to reduce ICD discharge, to slow the rate of ventricular tachycardia and to increase haemodynamic stability. 96,99 Patients with advanced heart failure and low LVEF in which symptoms progress despite optimal pharmacotherapy and ICD device implantation may benefit in future from devices engineered to restore sympathovagal balance to the heart by electrical neuromodulation. Several options have been investigated in animal models, involving baroreflex activation therapy (BAT) and vagal stimulation. ...

... In addition, a positive association between higher serum hs-CRP level and the occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias was found in a prospective cohort study on implantable cardioverter defibrillator recipients (11). Additionally, higher CRP levels increasing the risk of ventricular arrhythmia has been previously described in the literature (12)(13)(14); however, the mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. In a population-based sample, Vianello et al (15) found a negative association between CRP level and serum calcium concentration, suggesting that calcium homeostasis imbalance induced by CRP may contribute to arrhythmia. ...

... [8][9][10] This can be explained by longer follow up, underreporting of complications and implantation in more difficult patients who, in contrast to clinical trials, are not excluded from the potential benefit of a device. 10,14 However, in the United States a decreasing number of complications is seen in registry data. 8 One of the most feared complications is infection, and many of the cited complications will increase the risk for infection, especially in patients undergoing generator change and placement of additional leads. ...

... Despite the screening process, the main issue with the S-ICD to this date remains the relatively high rate of inappropriate shocks when compared with conventional TV-ICDs. Indeed, the most common cause of inappropriate shocks in the S-ICD population remains TWO [25][26][27][28][29][30]. T-wave morphology is in fact dynamic and can alter with position, exercise, electrolyte disturbance, progression of myocardial diseases, and changes in autonomic function. ...

... Recent meta-analyses and literature reviews have concluded that ICD therapy is not associated with impaired QOL. 4 Psychological responses vary greatly, but reports for depression range from 5À41%, reports for anxiety disorders range from 5À63%, and most notably, PTSD is reported in 20% of ICD patients. 5,6 ICD shock is an independent predictor of quality of life 4,5,7,8 ; in addition, age 9 , gender 10 , heart function 11 , type D personality 12 , anxiety and other psychological states, 13,14 are associated with QOL outcomes. ...