The FDA approved a therapeutic catheter that can be used to measure contact force during cardiac ablation.

Bloomberg News reported that Boehringer Ingelheim provided the FDA with one analysis showing a lower rate of fatal bleeding events in patients treated with dabigatran (Pradaxa) than was found in a second analysis that the company chose not to share.

Continuing its leadership in advanced pacing technology and device miniaturization, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), today announced the first U.S. implant of the world's smallest pacemaker: the Micra(tm) Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS). The device was successfully implanted at NYU Langone Medical Center by Larry Chinitz, M.D., director of the Heart Rhythm Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, as part of the Medtronic global pivotal clinical trial. The Micra TPS is an investigational device worldwide.

Fourteen-year-old Monroeville, Ala., teenager Christian Quarles is the first state resident to receive the Boston Scientific S-ICD® System, the world’s first and only commercially available subcutaneous implantable defibrillator for the treatment of patients at risk for sudden cardiac arrest.

Temporarily interrupting anticoagulation therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is common and may carry considerable risk for bleeding and strokes, regardless of whether they are treated with rivaroxaban or warfarin, a study published online Feb. 19 in Circulation found. 

The Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute (TCAI) at St. David’s Medical Center will host EP Live—a two-day, intensive educational meeting targeting practicing electrophysiologists from across the globe, electrophysiology (EP) fellows in training, general cardiologists, cardiac surgeons with an interest in treating complex arrhythmias and primary care physicians. The meeting consists of four sections: atrial fibrillation ablation, ventricular tachycardia ablation, devices and new technologies. 

Radiofrequency ablation appears to have a leg up on standard therapy for treating patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), based on results of the RAAFT-2 trial published in the Feb. 19 issue of JAMA. But both treatments had a high recurrence rate and ablation was far from risk-free.

Clinical practice guidelines involving dronedarone, a drug used to control arrhythmias in patients with atrial fibrillation, may not be based on the best available evidence, a special communication published online Feb. 17 in JAMA Internal Medicine found.