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.

Specific altered function in heart's left atrium may signal stroke risk in people with a-fib

Stroke is a frequent and dreaded complication of atrial fibrillation. But predicting which of the estimated six million Americans with a-fib are at highest risk has long challenged physicians weighing stroke risk against the serious side effects posed by lifelong therapy with warfarin and other blood thinners.

28 Apr 2015

Record number of abstracts submitted to Heart Failure 2015

A record number of abstracts have been submitted to the world's leading heart failure congress, promising more original science than ever before.

25 Apr 2015

Study shows NASH linked to 50% higher death rates compared with NAFLD

Results from a large population-based cohort of almost a million people in the UK found that the chances of dying from non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), over a 14-year period, was approximately 50% higher than for those with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

25 Apr 2015

Two Louisville heart physicians to host symposium on cardiovascular disease in women

Two of Louisville's leading heart physicians will host a one-day symposium designed to provide the community, physicians, nurses and health professionals up-to-date information on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women.

21 Apr 2015

CPAP use reduces atrial fibrillation recurrence in patients with obstructive sleep apnea

The use of continuous positive airway pressure was associated with a significant reduction in the recurrence of atrial fibrillation in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, according to an analysis of data from past research published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Clinical Electrophysiology.

21 Apr 2015

Ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA) may be effective for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA) data presented yesterday by Pharmacyclics, Inc. at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting suggest that ibrutinib may be an effective therapeutic option for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), as shown in both a transgenic mouse model and an in-vivo model of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mice (grafts of tissue taken from a pancreatic cancer patient and grafted into a mouse).

20 Apr 2015

Study sheds light on the physical causes of sudden death

Sudden cardiac death accounts for approximately 10% of natural deaths, most of which are due to ventricular fibrillation. Each year it causes 300,000 deaths in the United States and 20,000 in Spain.

17 Apr 2015

Study looks at dabigatran adherence across Veterans Health Administration sites

Among patients with atrial fibrillation who filled prescriptions for the anticoagulant dabigatran at Veterans Health Administration sites, there was variability in patient medication adherence across sites, with appropriate patient selection and pharmacist-led monitoring associated with greater adherence to the medication, according to a study in the April 14 issue of JAMA.

16 Apr 2015

Newly approved drug for rare blood cancer shows sustained benefit for 2 years

The most recent results from a clinical trial show that ibrutinib, a newly approved drug for Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, continued to control the rare blood cancer, with 95 percent of patients surviving for two years, report investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

10 Apr 2015

Cardiome Pharma receives reimbursement status for BRINAVESS in Belgium

Cardiome Pharma Corp. today announced the approval of BRINAVESS for reimbursement by Belgium's national compulsory health care and benefits insurance authority, The National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Institut National d'Assurance Maladie Invalidité or INAMI). As a result of this decision, BRINAVESS is expected to be listed for reimbursement in Belgium as of June 1, 2015.

9 Apr 2015

Pharmacyclics announces positive results from IMBRUVICA Phase II study in WM patients

Pharmacyclics, Inc. today announced longer-term data from a Phase II investigator-initiated study showing Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM) patients treated with IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib) experienced sustained disease control with an overall response rate (ORR) of 91% after a median of 19.1 months of treatment and a 2-year overall survival (OS) rate of 95%.

9 Apr 2015

Cardiovascular deaths continue to rise globally despite gains in prevention, treatment

As the global population pushes past 7 billion and more people reach old age, the number of deaths from cardiovascular diseases is on the rise. Cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of premature death in the world, include heart attacks, strokes, and other circulatory diseases.

6 Apr 2015

Study assesses factors that lead to inaccurate detection of frequency, duration of AF episodes

A new study shows how specific factors such as gender, age and mood disorders like anxiety and depression can lead patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) to inaccurately assess their heart rhythm.

2 Apr 2015

New article highlights need for optimization of warfarin therapy

Warfarin can be a challenging drug to manage. Long-term anticoagulation is recommended for patients with atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke, and for those with recurrent venous thrombosis or prosthetic heart valves.

1 Apr 2015

MHIF investigator performs first atrial fibrillation ablation in U.S. using SMARTTOUCH SF catheter

Dr. Daniel Melby, an investigator at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, performed the first atrial fibrillation ablation in the U.S. using Biosense Webster's new THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH SF contact force sensing catheter as part of an FDA regulated safety trial (SMART-SF).

1 Apr 2015

New Johns Hopkins mobile app educates care providers on improving sleep, overall health of patients

Experts from the Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep hope to help patients get a better night’s sleep by providing health care staff members with a basic educational tool on their smartphones.

31 Mar 2015

Boston Scientific announces successful implantations of WATCHMAN Device in three US patients

This week, three patients in the United States received the first implants of the Boston Scientific Corporation WATCHMAN™ Left Atrial Appendage Closure (LAAC) Device.

25 Mar 2015

New pre-clinical, clinical data for IMBRUVICA to be highlighted at AACR Annual Meeting

Pharmacyclics, Inc. today announced that new pre-clinical and clinical data for ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA) will be highlighted at the 2015 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting to be held April 18 – 22, 2015, in Philadelphia, PA.

19 Mar 2015

Catheter ablation more beneficial to heart failure patients than Amiodarone treatment

Among patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation, those who underwent catheter ablation were less likely to die, be hospitalized or have recurrent atrial fibrillation than patients taking a heart rhythm regulating drug, according to a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 64th Annual Scientific Session.