BOSTON--In patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) unresponsive to prior antiarrhythmic drugs, catheter ablation substantially reduced the risk of recurrent atrial arrhythmias, according to Thermocool AF trial results presented May 14 at the 30th annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) late-breaking clinical trials.

Philips Healthcare introduced a new electrophysiology (EP) logging and reporting feature for its Xper Information Management Physiomonitoring 5 product at the 2009 Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) conference in Boston last week.

BOSTON--In heart attack survivors who received implanted cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), mortality benefit was sustained over eight years of follow up, according to the results of late-breaking clinical trial presented May 14 at the 30th annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS).

Dronedarone had no adverse effect on mortality in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) and/or a left ventricular ejection fraction less than 0.35; and patients had a lower incidence of primary outcome events when allocated to dronedarone therapy, according to the ATHENA late-breaking clinical trial presented May 15 at the 30th annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) in Boston.

BOSTONLaser-assisted lead removal demonstrated safety and efficacy, based on initial data from the four-year, retrospective LExICon study presented today at the 30th annual scientific sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS). However, principal investigator Bruce Wilkoff told Cardiovascular Business News that the greatest differentiator in success rates and patient outcomes depends on operator experience.

The Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) released the first comprehensive guidance document on lead performance in pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), recognizing that lead malfunction is crucial to patient safety, and asserting that physicians and patients must have timely and accurate data when malfunctions occur. The document was released Wednesday at the 30th annual HRS scientific sessions in Boston.

Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius has appointed personnel for the newly created Office of Health Reform, which will spearhead the department's efforts to pass health reform this year and coordinate closely with the White House Office of Health Reform.

BOSTON--A call to action for more research into catheter ablation in the field of ventricular arrhythmia (VA) has been released in a joint consensus document from the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) and the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) issued today at the 30th annual scientific sessions of the HRS held in Boston.