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.

LifeWatch Services to unveil advanced AF TeleClinic service at HRS Annual Meeting

LifeWatch Services, Inc., a subsidiary of LifeWatch AG, will unveil its advanced AF TeleClinic service offering this week at the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) Annual Meeting taking place in Denver, Colorado. The AF TeleClinic service, empowered with the latest communication, IT and medical technologies, ensures physicians are well equipped to deliver optimal diagnostic and treatment options to their patients.

11 May 2010

BIOTRONIK launches TactiCath irrigated RF contact force ablation catheter for treating AF

BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, a leading manufacturer of implantable cardiac devices and pioneer of remote monitoring technologies today announced the market release of the TactiCath catheter. The TactiCath catheter, an Endosense company product, is an irrigated RF contact force ablation catheter with features that offer a major advance in ablation therapy for patients with cardiac arrhythmias and particularly Atrial Fibrillation (AF).

11 May 2010

Endosense commences enrollment in EFFICAS I study with TactiCath force-sensing catheter

Endosense, a Swiss medical technology company focused on improving the efficacy, safety and reproducibility of catheter ablation for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, has announced it has enrolled the first patients in EFFICAS I, the first study of the EFFICAS series. These patients were enrolled in Na Homolce Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic and treated by Petr Neuzil, M.D. and Vivek Reddy, M.D.

10 May 2010

NewCardio to unveil patented CardioBip technology at HRS Annual Scientific Sessions

NewCardio, Inc., a cardiac diagnostic technology provider, will unveil its patented CardioBip technology for remote wireless 12-lead detection and monitoring of atrial fibrillation, ischemia and other cardiovascular events at the Heart Rhythm Society 31st Annual Scientific Sessions, May 12-15, 2010, in Denver, Colorado.

7 May 2010

AGA Medical first-quarter net sales increase 15.4% to $51.3 million

AGA Medical Holdings, Inc., a leading developer of interventional medical devices for the minimally invasive treatment of structural heart defects and vascular abnormalities, today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

6 May 2010

MicroStockProfit.com releases Hansen Medical investment report

MicroStockProfit.com announces an investment report featuring Hansen Medical Inc.. The report includes financial, comparative and investment analyses, and industry information you need to know to make an educated investment decision.

4 May 2010

Medtronic completes enrollment in first of two CURE-AF clinical trials

Medtronic, Inc., today announced completion of patient enrollment in the first of two studies in the company's CURE-AF (Concomitant Utilization of Radiofrequency Energy for Atrial Fibrillation) clinical trial.

4 May 2010

DeCODE scientists discover common SNPs that increase number of CPD and risk of lung cancer

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of illness and death worldwide. But it is a complex behavior, and how much people smoke, how hard they find it to quit, and the impact of long-term smoking on health varies greatly among individuals. A substantial portion of this variability is genetic. Two years ago, deCODE discovered the first common, single-letter variation in the sequence of the human genome, on chromosome 15q25, associated with nicotine addiction and risk of lung cancer.

26 Apr 2010

Research associates diabetes with atrial fibrillation

As the U.S. population keeps aging and gaining weight, diabetes is becoming increasingly common. Some research has associated diabetes with the most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat, called atrial fibrillation, which can raise the risk for stroke and death. But results of past studies of diabetes and atrial fibrillation have conflicted.

23 Apr 2010

California's first Community Safety Saturday to be hosted in Carmel Plaza

The Protector Network and Capital Insurance Group Insurance Center's Central Valley Insurance Agency together with the California Highway Patrol and Visalia Police Department, host California's first Community Safety Saturday. This family friendly event will take place on Saturday, April 24, in the Carmel Plaza.

22 Apr 2010

St. Jude Medical reports 11% increase in first-quarter 2010 net sales

St. Jude Medical, Inc. today reported sales and net earnings for the first quarter ended April 3, 2010.

21 Apr 2010

Endosense releases 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 the commercial release of its next generation TactiCath force-sensing ablation catheter. Recently granted CE mark and unveiled this month at the DGK 2010 - German Cardiac Society meeting in Mannheim, Germany, the second generation product includes an elegantly enhanced catheter along with a feature-rich supporting system called the TactiSys™.

20 Apr 2010

Self-monitoring of Coumadin levels reduces risk of blood clots by 50%: Study

A new review of existing research finds that many patients who take an anti-clotting drug or "blood-thinner" can benefit from monitoring the levels of the drug themselves instead of going to clinics for blood tests.

16 Apr 2010

Biosense Webster obtains first Ethics Committee approval for CLARITY study

Biosense Webster announces that this week it has obtained its first Ethics Committee approval for the CLARITY study, comparing the 1-year efficacy, safety and efficiency of CARTO(R) 3 System-guided radiofrequency ablation using the NAVISTAR(R) THERMOCOOL(R) Catheter versus fluoroscopy-guided radiofrequency ablation using the Pulmonary Vein Ablation Catheter(R) (PVAC(R), Ablation Frontiers, Medtronic) in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

9 Apr 2010

Cell Therapeutics receives FDA Complete Response Letter for Pixuvri NDA

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it had received a Complete Response Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding its New Drug Application for Pixuvri™ (pixantrone dimaleate) for relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma ("NHL").

9 Apr 2010

Obstructive sleep apnea associated with increased risk of stroke in men

Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with an increased risk of stroke in middle-aged and older adults, especially men, according to new results from a landmark study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

8 Apr 2010

BIOTRONIK receives European approval for new ProMRI Pacing Systems

BIOTRONIK, a leading manufacturer of implantable cardiac devices and pioneer of wireless remote monitoring technologies, announced today the European approval of its new ProMRI Pacing Systems — Evia pacemaker series and Safio S pacing leads — providing European patients the first portfolio of bradycardia systems that are compatible with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans under specific conditions.

8 Apr 2010

AHRQ: Women accounted for nearly 60% of 39.4M admissions to U.S. hospitals in 2007

Women accounted for nearly 60 percent of the 39.4 million admissions to U.S. hospitals in 2007, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

7 Apr 2010

ESC heart failure meeting encourages audience interaction

"Delegates attending the meeting will get real insights into what's new in heart failure," said Professor Stefan Anker, chairman of the Heart Failure Congress Scientific Committee. "In what's the biggest international stand-alone meeting dedicated to heart failure, there'll be lots of hot of the press news. The very fact that 12 late breaking clinical trial updates are being presented at the meeting demonstrates how bright the future is in heart failure."

7 Apr 2010

FDA approves TachoSil adjunctive hemostatic agent for use in cardiovascular surgery

Baxter International Inc. and Nycomed today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of TachoSil (Absorbable Fibrin Sealant Patch) for use as an adjunct to hemostasis in cardiovascular surgery. TachoSil is the first and only adjunctive hemostatic agent available in the U.S. that combines a collagen patch with a coating of human coagulation factors.

From Baxter International Inc. 7 Apr 2010