After six months of nonsurgical implantation with an active-fixation leadless cardiac pacemaker, 90 percent of patients had an acceptable pacing threshold and sensing amplitude, according to a prespecified analysis of an ongoing study. In addition, 6.7 percent of patients had device-related serious adverse events.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) announced it plans on launching two clinical registry programs to track outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation. The registries will be part of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry, which currently includes eight cardiovascular data registries.

The FDA issued a safety alert on July 13, warning of deaths and severe adverse events associated with the use of SentreHEART's Lariat suture delivery device for left atrial appendage (LAA) exclusion and preventing strokes in patients with atrial fibrillation.

The Heart Rhythm Society focused on the latest developments in electrophysiology and the management of patients with rhythm disorders and heart failure at its 2015 meeting on May 13-16 in Boston. The event included 12 late-breaking clinical trials.

A retrospective analysis found 7 percent of patients with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) had a malfunction attributed to radiotherapy. All of the cases occurred during neuron-producing radiotherapy, prompting lead researcher Jonathan D. Grant, MD, to recommend the use of non-neutron-producing radiotherapy when clinically feasible.

Fewer than 10 percent of older adults received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) following an MI, according to an analysis of Medicare beneficiaries who had low ejection fraction. Although the patients were at an increased risk of sudden cardiac death, only 8.1 percent were implanted with the device within a year of their MI event.

Here’s a bridge you may consider burning: anticoagulation bridging therapy for patients with atrial fibrillation who undergo an elective operation. A randomized clinical trial found no bridging after discontinuing warfarin led to no more thromboembolic events than bridging, with a lower risk of bleeding.

A prospective analysis found 4.3 percent of sudden cardiac deaths in San Francisco were in patients with pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs). Half of the deaths were related to the devices, and the most common cause of death was ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation.