Exploring the biggest trends at HRS 2024
Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) 2023-2024 President Jodie Hurwitz, MD, director of electrophysiology at North Texas Heart Center and director of the electrophysiology lab at Medical City Heart and Spine Hospital in Dallas, explains some of the key highlights at the Heart Rhythm 2024 annual meeting in Boston.
She said pulsed field ablation (PFA) was by far the hottest clinical topic in sessions and in late-breaking sessions. There were five late-breaking trials on PFA.
"It seems that EP is fun again. We're learning things about PFA. There's quite a lot of topics and lot of different companies showcasing their information, and some have at late-breaking clinical trials," Hurwitz explained. "We believe so far the data is very compelling for safety. Of course improving patient care, that's the ultimate goal here. And we all feel that PFA is very user-friendly. It's in its infancy so we're really learning along with a lot of the companies. It is really exciting. I can tell you from somebody who has been using it for a relatively short period of time, it's part of what's making EP fun again."
She said other big topics in HRS trials and sessions included the expanding use and understanding of conduction system pacing and new data and devices for left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion.
This year's meeting also added a new series of sessions focused on the business side of electrophysiology. This expands a trend already seen at meetings organized by the American College of Cardiology, American Society of Echocardiography, Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography and other industry societies.
"I think that everyone feels like they need to have a seat at the table or they're going to be eaten up, if you will," Hurwitz said. "And so we feel that we need to educate ourselves."
With about 9,500 attendees, this was the largest HRS meeting since 2019, when the event had a record of 11,000 attendees. This year did see the largest number of late-breaking abstracts submitted, however.
Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: [email protected]