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.

A transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure being performed at Intermountain Healthcare. Image from Intermountain Healthcare

Atrial fibrillation after TAVR linked to much higher risk of death, heart failure

Researchers tracked data from nearly 7,000 TAVR patients for two years, focusing on all-cause mortality and heart failure hospitalizations.

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PaceMate gains a key investor in its heart monitoring technology

Lead Edge Capital is a well-known tech investor that has previously worked with such groups as Spotify, Duo Security and Toast.

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New research suggests immunotherapy for AFib could be on the horizon

Targeting immune cells that play a key role in the development of atrial fibrillation could give cardiologists a new way to treat the disease.

the words "FDA recall" on a board

Medtronic recalls nearly 350,000 implantable heart devices after 22 injuries

The FDA has categorized this as a Class I recall, meaning the use of these devices could cause serious injuries or death.”

dissolvable heart monitors for AFib designed by Northwestern and George Washington

New dissolvable heart monitors could help cardiologists battle AFib

The new-look devices are soft, flexible, transparent and roughly the size of a postage stamp.

FDA approves Abbott’s Aveir dual chamber (DR) leadless pacemaker system, the world’s very first dual chamber leadless pacing solution for treating patients with abnormal heart rhythms.

FDA approves world’s first dual-chamber leadless pacemaker system

The minimally invasive system is made up of two pacemakers that send signals back and forth to one another. One pacemaker is placed on the patient's right ventricle, and the other is placed on the patient's right atrium. 

Shockwave Medical's intravascular lithotripsy used during transvenous lead extraction

Intravascular lithotripsy helps address the challenges of transvenous lead extraction

Dense calcifications have long been viewed as one of the most challenging aspects of TLE procedures. IVL may offer specialists a new way to address that issue. 

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Cardiology at the supermarket: Shopping carts upgraded to detect signs of AFib

Attaching ECG sensors to the handles of shopping carts could help identify signs of atrial fibrillation in patients who don't even realize they have it. 

Around the web

Ron Blankstein, MD, professor of radiology, Harvard Medical School, explains the use of artificial intelligence to detect heart disease in non-cardiac CT exams.

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.

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