ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is considered the gold standard treatment for many psychiatric illnesses; however, it is not without risk. There have been no systematic reviews to date on new-onset atrial fibrillation following ECT. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify reported occurrences of new-onset atrial fibrillation following ECT and the ability to safely resume ECT thereafter.A case pertaining to the development of atrial fibrillation after ECT in a young healthy male is presented. In addition, a systematic review of the literature pertaining to atrial fibrillation after ECT was conducted through PubMed, PsycInfo, and EMBASE. Of the 233 articles screened, 15 articles were selected for in-depth review. Of the 15 articles, only 10 articles met inclusion criteria. These articles included 9 case reports and 1 retrospective review. The retrospective review included 1 patient that developed atrial fibrillation out of 13 patients receiving ECT at the site. The 10 patients included varied in age, risk factors, type of ECT conducted, and treatment of the atrial fibrillation. Of the 4 articles that discussed outcomes, all patients were able to return to ECT without further complications.There are many potential reasons ECT may induce atrial fibrillation, and there are additional treatment considerations for atrial fibrillation in patients receiving ECT. Notably, our results indicate that many have been able to continue ECT without further complications; however, more research is needed to identify the frequency of this adverse reaction.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, aptamers have come to replace antibodies in high throughput multiplexed experiments. The aptamer-based biomarker screening technology, which kicked off in 2010, is capable of interrogating thousands of proteins in a very small sample volume. With this new technology, researchers hope to find clinically appropriate biomarkers for a myriad of illnesses by screening human body fluids. In this work, we have reviewed a total of eight studies utilizing aptamer-based biomarker screens of human body fluids, and have highlighted novel protein biomarkers discovered.
