Heart Rhythm

Hearts should have normal rhythm to their beats, but when these beats are out of synch, it causes inefficient pumping of blood. Irregular heart arrhythmias occur when the electrical signals that coordinate the heart's beats do not work properly. This can cause beats that are too fast (tachycardia), or too slow (bradycardia). Tachycardias include atrial fibrillation (AFib), supraventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia (VT). Bradycardias include sick sinus syndrome and conduction block. Electrophysiology arrhythmia treatments include medications, life style changes, and the EP lab interventions of catheter ablation, and implantable pacemakers or defibrillators.

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Medtronic acquires CardioInsight and expands its AF business

Medtronic acquired CardioInsight Technologies in a debt-free deal announced on June 19 that increases Medtronic’s focus on atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias. The deal was valued at approximately $93 million.

Life-threatening arrhythmias are rare when reducing cardiac telemetry

If hospitals and health systems reduce their use of cardiac telemetry in nonintensive care settings, they are unlikely to miss life-threatening arrhythmias, according to a single-center study. Life-threatening arrhythmias occurred in one of 2,645 patients.

Obesity contributes to increased risk of AF across clinical settings

A meta-analysis of 51 studies found that increases in body mass index were associated with a significant risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). The results were consistent across different clinical settings.

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Riata, TAVR & legacies

Are Riata concerns a thing of the past and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for almost anyone with severe aortic stenosis the way of the future? Presentations at recent cardiology conferences addressed those questions.

Survival rates increase with more activity in patients with ICDs and CRT devices

Patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) or cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices who were most active had improved health outcomes and were more likely to survive, according to a registry analysis.

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HRS.15: No adverse outcomes in patients with ICD system undergoing MRIs

BOSTON—Patients with the Iforia ProMRI implantable cardiac device (ICD) system had no adverse outcomes related to the device and no significant changes to pacing or sensing parameters after undergoing a thoracic spine or cardiac MRI, according to a multicenter, nonrandomized trial.

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HRS.15: WiCS-LV device is clinically effective but has some safety issues

BOSTON—Patients with heart failure who failed standard, optimal cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) approaches had significant improvements in clinical outcomes after receiving a novel device that provided endocardial left ventricular stimulation.

HRS.15: Electrical failure occurs in 5.9% of Canadian patients using Riata lead

BOSTON—After a mean follow-up of 7.5 years, electrical failure occurred in 5.9 percent of patients using the Riata lead, according to a prospective, observational study of the Riata leads under advisory in Canada. In addition, 7.4 percent of patients had electrical failure or cable externalization.

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