Keeping patients with atrial fibrillation on rather than off warfarin therapy during radiofrequency catheter ablation reduced the risk of periprocedural stroke in a randomized trial. The results were published online April 17 in Circulation.

Medtronic today announced CE (Conformité Européenne) Mark and European launch of the Evera MRI(tm) SureScan implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) System, the first and only ICD system approved for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans positioned on any region of the body. The Medtronic Evera MRI ICD is not approved in the United States.

Physicians tend to underestimate both stroke and bleeding risk when deciding whether or not to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with oral anticoagulants. An analysis published online March 29 in Circulation found that in up to 80 percent of cases, physician-assessed risk differed from objective risk scores.

RIDGEFIELD, Conn., March 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (BIPI) today announced results from a new survey of cardiologists to understand their perceptions about anticoagulation, stroke risk reduction and goals for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) therapy when prescribing warfarin or a novel oral anticoagulant. The online survey, conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of BIPI, included 300 licensed U.S. cardiologists who treat at least five NVAF patients per month.

Updated recommendations for the treatment of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation now call for the use of radio frequency ablation as a treatment, a joint American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology and Heart Rhythm Society panel wrote in its 2014 guidelines issued March 28.

The use of a leadless, self-contained pacemaker was found to be safe and effective in a group of patients with an indication for single-chamber pacing who participated in a clinical trial. The study results were published online March 24 in Circulation.

Citing two cases involving recalled leads in implantable cardiac devices as examples, two California researchers called for more postmarketing surveillance, publicly available data registries and better labeling to help physicians assess devices’ risks and benefits.

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, today announced the first enrollments in the company’s LEADLESS Pacemaker Observational Study evaluating the Nanostim™ leadless pacing technology. The Nanostim pacemaker received CE Mark in 2013, and post-approval implants have occurred in the UK, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.