The FDA has approved a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a new type of ablation catheter for patients with ventricular tachycardia (VT) resistant to conventional anti-arrhythmic drugs or standard ablation procedures.

The company can now update its labeling instructions for the device to include a new 45-day dual anti-platelet therapy treatment option when treating non-valvular atrial fibrillation. 

Though removal of the affected CIED is typically the smartest treatment option—and one supported by specialty groups all over the world—a majority of patients keep living with the device, often resulting in hospitalization or even death.

Affera’s portfolio includes interventional solutions such as the Affera Prism-1 mapping and navigation platform, designed to help electrophysiologists diagnose heart rhythm issues, and the Sphere-9 cardiac ablation catheter. 

New research, published in JAMA Cardiology, challenges the common belief that AFib is more likely to develop among men than women. The key problem, it seems, is that prior research teams did not understand the significance of certain risk factors.

The promising results were presented at ESC Congress 2022 and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Medtronic's new-look device is not yet approved for sale or distribution. 

ESC Congress 2022, the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology, was jam-packed with eye-opening new research from many of the leading voices in cardiovascular and vascular medicine. These six sessions were just some of the weekend's many highlights. 

Elderly patients are often not eligible for oral anticoagulant therapy due to the risk of bleeding events or other adverse outcomes. A very low dose of edoxaban, however, appears to be a safe treatment option, even for especially frail patients.