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.

Robotic navigation systems in electrophysiology

Catheter ablation is still associated with a substantial amount of complications, and more failure then sometimes reported. Perforation with catheters is especially important in atrial fibrillation. Robotic navigation could reduce these complications.

1 Sep 2008

Best use of drug-eluting stents: When should they be avoided?

Compared with bare metal stents, drug-eluting stents substantially reduce the risk of angiographic and clinical recurrence but do not affect mortality or the short term or long term risk of myocardial infarction.

31 Aug 2008

Adalat XL Plus approved in Canada

Bayer Inc. announced that Health Canada has granted a Notice of Compliance (NOC) for Adalat XL Plus, a co-packaging of Adalat XL and Aspirin 81mg.

12 Aug 2008

Sudden loss of hearing might be an early sign of stroke

Preliminary research culled from a national medical insurance records database in Taiwan suggests that sudden loss of hearing might be an early sign of vulnerability to stroke, foreshadowing an actual cerebrovascular event by as much as two years, according to a study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

27 Jun 2008

Beta blockers after surgery more risky than beneficial

The results of new research has shown that patients given high doses of beta blocker drugs following non-cardiac surgery were more likely to have a stroke or die. However they were less likely to suffer a heart attack.

13 May 2008

Results of St. Jude Medical deep brain stimulation study presented at APA meeting

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today announced pilot study results from the first multi-center study investigating deep brain stimulation (DBS) of Brodmann Area 25 for major depressive disorder.

5 May 2008

Fosamax use linked to atrial fibrillation in women

Women who have used Fosamax are nearly twice as likely to develop the most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat (atrial fibrillation) than are those who have never used it, according to research from Group Health and the University of Washington published in the April 28 Archives of Internal Medicine.

28 Apr 2008

Alendronate may be associated with irregular heartbeat

Alendronate, a medication used to prevent fractures in women with osteoporosis, may be associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, a type of abnormal heart rhythm, according to a report in the April 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

28 Apr 2008

Mitochondrial dysfunction and redox signaling in atrial tachyarrhythmia

Researchers at the University Hospital of Magdeburg (Germany) have discovered that atrial tachycardia is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress followed by the activation of the NF-kB signalling pathway with induction of NF-kB target gene expression in atrial tissue.

24 Apr 2008

Drug does not appear to reduce risk of heart attack or death following CABG surgery

Use of MC-1 (a naturally occurring metabolite of vitamin B6) before and for 30 days after coronary artery bypass graft surgery did not reduce the risk of heart attack or cardiovascular death, according to a JAMA study being released early online April 1 to coincide with its presentation at the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology.

2 Apr 2008

Stroke risk factors may signal faster cognitive decline in elderly

Older Americans with the highest risk of stroke, but those who have never suffered a stroke, also have the highest rate of cognitive decline, researchers reported at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2008.

26 Feb 2008

Stereotaxis announces FDA approval of magnetic irrigated catheter

Stereotaxis, Inc. has announced that the Company has been advised that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its partnered magnetic irrigated catheter for use in mapping and ablation in the United States.

16 Jan 2008

Exercise testing to predict mitral regurgitation

In as many as one in five people over age 55, when the heart contracts to send blood around the body, some degree of backward leakage occurs across the mitral valve, a condition known as mitral regurgitation (MR).

12 Dec 2007

Exercise testing may help predict seriousness of mitral regurgitation

12 Dec 2007

Study results from Zolinza (vorinostat) in combination with bortezomib for multiple myeloma trial

Results from two investigational Phase I trials of ZOLINZA (vorinostat) in combination with bortezomib provide preliminary anti-tumor activity in patients with relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma.

10 Dec 2007

Atrial fibrillation screening can identify irregular heartbeat that leads to stroke

A simple screening can identify atrial fibrillation, such as that discovered yesterday in Vice-President Dick Cheney, and can do so even if the person is unaware of the presence of this irregular heart rhythm.

27 Nov 2007

Stereotaxis announces first atrial fibrillation procedures performed with performed with magnetic irrigated catheter

Stereotaxis, Inc. has announced that the first atrial fibrillation procedures performed with its partnered magnetic irrigated catheter were successfully completed over the course of the past week.

6 Nov 2007

Hypertension or atrial fibrillation linked to Alzheimer's disease progression

Alzheimer's disease (AD) may progress more rapidly in people with high blood pressure or a form of irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation, according to results of a Johns Hopkins study published in the Nov. 6, 2007, issue of Neurology.

6 Nov 2007

Alzheimer's may progress more rapidly in people with high blood pressure or atrial fibrillation

While current medications for Alzheimer's disease are effective for some patients in slowing the rate of AD progression, many patients do not benefit from the treatments or cannot tolerate them, says lead researcher Michelle M. Mielke, Ph.D., of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

31 Oct 2007

Mortality rates 71 percent lower at top-rated hospitals

Patients have on average a 71 percent lower chance of dying at the nation's top-rated hospitals compared with the lowest-rated hospitals across 18 procedures and conditions analyzed in the tenth annual HealthGrades Hospital Quality in America Study, issued today by HealthGrades, the healthcare ratings company.

16 Oct 2007