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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EP ablation mapping technology has greatly improved in the past decade.

VIDEO: Advances in atrial fibrillation treatment have improved outcomes

Interview with Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, MD, executive medical director for the Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute at HCA Midwest Health, on recent advances in electrophysiology (EP) ablation and mapping systems to improve outcomes in atrial fibrillation therapy.

AI model uses ECG data to identify new cases of AFib

“Our ultimate goal is to prevent strokes," one Mayo Clinic electrophysiologist said. "I believe the current study has brought us one step closer.”

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Biotronik announces collaboration with AliveCor as first in a series of strategic partnerships to disrupt cardiac digital health with AI-enabled solutions

BIOTRONIK has announced a new partnership with AliveCor.

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Drinking coffee linked to a much lower risk of heart disease, death

"Our findings indicate that drinking modest amounts of coffee of all types should not be discouraged but can be enjoyed as a heart-healthy behavior," said a cardiologist involved in the study. 

Dhanunjaya "DJ" Lakkireddy, MD, executive medical director for the Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute at HCA Midwest Health, a professor of medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and serves as deputy editor for the the Journal of Atrial Fibrillation, and serves on the HRS Board of Trustees, section steering committee chair for the ACC. He explains there is a big need to speed access to electrophysiologists (EPs) when a patient presents with atrial fibrillation (AFib). #AFibawareness

VIDEO: Gaps in the access to atrial fibrillation care

Interview with Dhanunjaya Lakkireddy, MD, executive medical director for the Kansas City Heart Rhythm Institute at HCA Midwest Health, on the need to speed access to electrophysiologists when a patient presents with atrial fibrillation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the first pediatric indication for use for an implantable cardiac monitor to Medtronic. The Linq II Insertable Cardiac Monitor (ICM) system is the first such device receive 510(k) clearance for use in pediatric patients over the age of 2 who have heart rhythm abnormalities and require long-term, continuous monitoring.

FDA grants new pediatric indication for Medtronic Linq II implantable cardiac monitor 

The FDA granted the first pediatric indication for an implantable cardiac monitor. The Linq II can be used in pediatric patients over the age of 2 for up to 4.5 years of long-term, continuous monitoring. 

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1 in 20 hospitalized COVID-19 patients develop new-onset AFib

Researchers examined data from nearly 31,000 adult patients hospitalized with COVID-19, sharing their findings in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.

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HFpEF patients with MR may face a higher mortality risk—but not if they have AFib

There is an established connection between MR and HFrEF, but we know much less about the link between MR and HFpEF. 

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