Articles tagged ‘atrial fibrillation’

Apixaban was shown to be superior to warfarin for the reduction of stroke or systemic embolism with significantly less major bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation in the Phase 3 ARISTOTLE trial, according to results presented during a packed Hot Line session at the 2011 European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris, and published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine.¹

The AF AWARE (Atrial Fibrillation Awareness And Risk Education) campaign, announced the launch of the Atrial Fibrillation in Primary Care (AFIP) tool, at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2011 in Paris. It has been developed to help primary care physicians (PCPs) with early diagnosis and optimal management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

The first patient has been enrolled, in Hamburg, Germany, for the largest pan-European study to determine whether an early comprehensive rhythm control strategy for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) will benefit patients.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing the cardiovascular (CV) risk associated with the anti-arrhythmic drug, dronedarone¹ (Multaq®, Sanofi-Aventis), following the company’s recent discontinuation of the phase IIIb PALLAS (Permanent Atrial fibriLLAtion outcome Study using Dronedarone on top of standard therapy) trial after it found increased CV events in those randomised to the drug.

Clinical outcomes in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients are influenced not by the choice of rhythm control versus rate control, but mainly by hospitalisations due to arrhythmia/proarrhythmia and other cardiovascular causes, according to a study¹ of the RECORDAF (Registry on Cardiac Rhythm Disorders Assessing the Control of Atrial Fibrillation).

Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a complex and lethal clinical syndrome accounting for an increasing number of Australian hospital admissions and more than 2,700 deaths in Australia in 2008, according to a recent update to the National Heart Foundation of Australia and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand Guidelines for the prevention, detection and management of chronic heart failure in Australia.¹

Despite recent advances in the treatment of heart rhythm disturbances, mortality and morbidity rates associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) remain “unacceptably high”, according to a new report presented recently at the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) EUROPACE 2011 congress in Madrid.

A link between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) has been found by a study published recently in Circulation.¹

Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) treated with primary care therapies often do not stabilise sufficiently to keep them out of hospital, despite treatment conforming to guidelines, according to a study¹ published recently in Clinical Research in Cardiology.

Dr Ben Glover, Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist, reports from the Heart Rhythm Congress 2011, held recently in San Francisco. He highlights some of the advances in cardiac devices, a novel computational mapping system for AF ablation, as well as the role of genetic testing in inherited conditions.