Atrial Fibrillation News and Research

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Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia. An arrhythmia is a problem with the speed or rhythm of the heartbeat. A disorder in the heart’s electrical system causes AF and other types of arrhythmia. AF occurs when rapid, disorganized electrical signals in the heart’s two upper chambers, called the atria, cause them to contract very fast and irregularly (this is called fibrillation). As a result, blood pools in the atria and isn’t pumped completely into the heart’s two lower chambers, called the ventricles. When this happens, the heart’s upper and lower chambers don’t work together as they should. Often, people who have AF may not even feel symptoms. However, even when not noticed, AF can lead to an increased risk of stroke. In many patients, particularly when the rhythm is extremely rapid, AF can cause chest pain, heart attack, or heart failure. AF may occur rarely or every now and then, or it may become a persistent or permanent heart rhythm lasting for years.

GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics reintroduces Optison ultrasound contrast agent for echocardiograms

GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics today announced the market reintroduction of Optison™ (Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres Injectable Suspension, USP), a diagnostic ultrasound contrast agent for use in select echocardiograms. Optison is indicated for use in patients with suboptimal echocardiograms to opacify the left ventricle and to improve the delineation of the left ventricular endocardial borders. The safety and efficacy of Optison with exercise stress or pharmacologic stress testing have not been established.

12 Jul 2010

Common SNP in sequence of human genome conferring risk of vascular diseases discovered

Scientists at deCODE genetics and academic colleagues from the Netherlands and twelve other countries across Europe and North America today report the discovery of a common single-letter variation (SNP) in the sequence of the human genome conferring risk of a range of vascular diseases. The SNP confers risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), early-onset heart attack, peripheral artery disease (PAD), and pulmonary embolism, independent of other known risk factors.

12 Jul 2010

Patients enrolled in CLARITY-AF study

Biosense Webster, Inc., a worldwide leader in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, announces that more than 10 patients have now been enrolled in the CLARITY-study, comparing the efficacy, safety and efficiency of CARTO 3 System guided radiofrequency ablation using the NAVISTAR THERMOCOOL catheter versus fluoroscopy guided radiofrequency ablation using the Pulmonary Vein Ablation catheter (Ablation Frontiers, Medtronic) in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

9 Jul 2010

EMA CHMP recommends marketing approval of BRINAVESS for conversion of recent onset AF to sinus rhythm

Merck and Cardiome Pharma Corp. today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended marketing approval for BRINAVESS® (vernakalant), an investigational intravenous (IV) formulation for the conversion of recent onset atrial fibrillation (AF) to sinus rhythm in adults.

28 Jun 2010

St. Jude Medical's Therapy Cool Path Ablation Catheter receives Japanese MHLW approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approval and reimbursement approval of its Therapy Cool Path Ablation Catheter. This marks the company's first entry into the irrigated catheter ablation market in Japan.

25 Jun 2010

Digoxin drug may increase risk of premature death in patients with kidney disease

For patients with kidney disease on dialysis, the widely used heart medication digoxin may lead to an increased risk of premature death, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

25 Jun 2010

nContact reports results of physician-initiated Convergent Procedure study of AF

nContact Surgical, Inc. reports with interest today the results of a physician-initiated study of the Convergent Procedure that, for the first time, measured the progress of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) patients at one-year and six-month intervals. Results of the study, which were presented at the 2010 International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgeons meeting in Berlin, Germany, indicated that after one year 80% of patients were in sinus rhythm and off anti-arrhythmic medication as a result of the closed chest, multi-disciplinary AF procedure.

24 Jun 2010

Biosense Webster's CARTOXPRESS Module, LASSO NAV Circular Mapping Catheter receive FDA clearance

Biosense Webster, Inc., a worldwide leader in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared for marketing the CARTOXPRESS™ Software Module and the LASSO® NAV Circular Mapping Catheter for use with the CARTO® XP Mapping System.

24 Jun 2010

Hidden heart condition raise stroke and heart failure risk: Report

According to the National Stroke Foundation a hidden and largely undetected heart condition is costing the Australian economy over $1.2 billion a year. In a report released today the Foundation has said that Atrial Fibrillation (AF), commonly manifested as severe irregularity of heart beat and palpitation that may go unnoticed is affecting more than 240,000 Australians at present with half over the age of 75.

23 Jun 2010

SPS receives $2.2M NHLBI grant to commercialize steerable cardiac mapping, ablation catheter technology

Strategic Polymer Sciences, Inc. (SPS), an innovator in advanced medical devices based on its proprietary electroactive polymer (EAP) technology, today announced it has received a $2.2 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The SPS grant is one of only ten awarded nationwide by the NIH under a Recovery Act Limited Competition called The Biomedical Research, Development, and Growth to Spur the Acceleration of New Technologies (BRDG-SPAN) Pilot Program.

23 Jun 2010

Medtronic's anatomically-designed ablation catheters reduce lab time for PVI

Data from the FAST-PVI study, supported by Medtronic, Inc., shows lab time using anatomically-designed ablation catheters are more than one-third (35 percent) faster than traditional point-by-point focal ablation procedures in achieving pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). PVI is the cornerstone catheter procedure to treat paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF).

19 Jun 2010

St. Jude Medical's Therapy Cool Flex Ablation Catheter granted European CE Mark approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced European CE Mark approval of the Therapy™ Cool Flex™ Ablation Catheter at the 17th World Congress in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Cardiac Techniques (CardioStim). The ablation catheter is the industry's first to have a fully-irrigated and flexible tip, which can potentially improve the safety and efficacy of cardiac ablation procedures.

18 Jun 2010

St. Jude Medical's EnSite Contact Technology platform receives European CE Mark approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced European CE Mark approval of the EnSite Contact™ Technology platform at the 17th World Congress in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Cardiac Techniques (CardioStim).

17 Jun 2010

AGA Medical commences enrollment in AMPLATZER Cardiac Plug clinical trial

AGA Medical Holdings, Inc. today announced first patient enrollment in the feasibility phase of the prospective, multicenter, randomized AMPLATZER® Cardiac Plug clinical trial. Dr. William Nicholson, an interventional cardiologist and structural heart specialist at York Hospital in Pennsylvania, enrolled the first patient.

16 Jun 2010

BIOTRONIK announces commercial availability of new ProMRI Pacing Systems

BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, a leading manufacturer of high-quality implantable cardiac devices and pioneer of wireless remote monitoring technologies, announced today the commercial availability of its new ProMRI Pacing Systems — Evia pacemaker series and Safio pacing leads — providing European patients the first portfolio of bradycardia systems that are compatible with Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans under specific conditions.

15 Jun 2010

Endosense launches ProForce Registry Study of TactiCath force-sensing ablation catheter

Endosense, a medical technology company focused on improving the efficacy, safety and reproducibility of catheter ablation for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, has announced enrollment of the first patients in its ProForce Registry. The news marks the launch of the ProForce Registry Study, an international, single arm, multi-center, post-market trial of Endosense's TactiCath force-sensing ablation catheter.

15 Jun 2010

Comprehensive source for treatment information of atrial fibrillation in the European market

Arlington Medical Resources, a provider of premier market intelligence for the pharmaceutical and diagnostic imaging industries, finds that electrical cardioversion usage patterns in Europe differed dramatically by country in the fourth quarter of 2009. While ECV represented almost half of all cardioversion attempts in Germany, in Spain ECV accounted for only 13% of cardioversion attempts.

15 Jun 2010

First hospital in Mexico to use GORE HELEX Septal Occluder for transcatheter closure of ASD

W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) today announced that Instituto Nacional De Cardiologia in Mexico City, Mexico, is the first hospital in the country to use the GORE® HELEX Septal Occluder for the transcatheter closure of an atrial septal defect (ASD). Department Chief, Dr. Carlos Zabal and Dr. Jose Garcia Montes of the Instituto Nacional de Cardiologia, in Mexico City, achieved the milestone procedure in March, 2010.

14 Jun 2010

Dabigatran Etexilate anticoagulant as effective as Enoxaparin in preventing venous thromboembolism

Data from the RE-NOVATE® II study presented today at the 15th Annual Congress of the European Hematology Association (EHA) have shown that dabigatran etexilate 220mg once daily is as effective and safe as enoxaparin 40mg in preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) after total hip replacement surgery.

11 Jun 2010

Phase 3 AVERROES clinical trial of apixaban for atrial fibrillation closes early due to clear evidence of efficacy

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and Pfizer today announced that the companies have agreed to stop the Phase 3 AVERROES clinical trial of apixaban in patients with atrial fibrillation. The study will be stopped early because a predefined interim analysis by the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) revealed clear evidence of a clinically important reduction in stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation considered intolerant of or unsuitable for vitamin K antagonist therapy who received apixaban as compared to aspirin.

11 Jun 2010

Atrial Fibrillation News and Research

Further Reading

GE Healthcare Medical Diagnostics reintroduces Optison ultrasound contrast agent for echocardiograms

Common SNP in sequence of human genome conferring risk of vascular diseases discovered

Patients enrolled in CLARITY-AF study

EMA CHMP recommends marketing approval of BRINAVESS for conversion of recent onset AF to sinus rhythm

St. Jude Medical's Therapy Cool Path Ablation Catheter receives Japanese MHLW approval

Digoxin drug may increase risk of premature death in patients with kidney disease

nContact reports results of physician-initiated Convergent Procedure study of AF

Biosense Webster's CARTOXPRESS Module, LASSO NAV Circular Mapping Catheter receive FDA clearance

Hidden heart condition raise stroke and heart failure risk: Report

SPS receives $2.2M NHLBI grant to commercialize steerable cardiac mapping, ablation catheter technology

Medtronic's anatomically-designed ablation catheters reduce lab time for PVI

St. Jude Medical's Therapy Cool Flex Ablation Catheter granted European CE Mark approval

St. Jude Medical's EnSite Contact Technology platform receives European CE Mark approval

AGA Medical commences enrollment in AMPLATZER Cardiac Plug clinical trial

BIOTRONIK announces commercial availability of new ProMRI Pacing Systems

Endosense launches ProForce Registry Study of TactiCath force-sensing ablation catheter

Comprehensive source for treatment information of atrial fibrillation in the European market

First hospital in Mexico to use GORE HELEX Septal Occluder for transcatheter closure of ASD

Dabigatran Etexilate anticoagulant as effective as Enoxaparin in preventing venous thromboembolism

Phase 3 AVERROES clinical trial of apixaban for atrial fibrillation closes early due to clear evidence of efficacy

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