At Heart Rhythm 2010 in Denver recently, a session on demographic factors influencing atrial fibrillation management and outcomes featured the following research findings: African Americans Have Less Risk Than Caucasians of Atrial Fibrillation After Bypass Surgery Blacks Have Lower Risk of Atrial Fibrillation After Age 60 Than Whites Despite Higher Risk Factors Women with Atrial …
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At Heart Rhythm Society 2010, we saw intriguing new research into personalized afib treatment and stroke prevention that was presented by Dr. Nassir Marrouche and Dr. Marcos Daccarett of the Comprehensive Arrhythmia Research and Management (CARMA) Center at the University of Utah Health System. They have developed a way, using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), to …
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In this video interview at Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium, Dr. Peter Kowey, President of the Main Line Health Heart Center, talked about a number of exciting new things in the atrial fibrillation world. His topics included the Cabana clinical trials, the Safari catheter ablation registry, dronedarone as a replacement for amiodarone, atrial selective drugs, and …
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One of the most common questions we get centers around the use of anticoagulant drugs—either the brand drug, Coumadin, or the generic version, warfarin—and whether or not an atrial fibrillation patient should be on them. Anticoagulants decrease stroke risk, but can also increase bleeding risk. How do you sort it all out? It's just as …
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New studies from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) show that African Americans are less likely to know they have atrial fibrillation or to be treated with anticoagulants to prevent afib-related strokes, and that stroke deaths are higher among blacks throughout the U.S. and southerners in eight "stroke belt" states. …
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New research from Dr. Andrea Natale and colleagues on gender disparities in atrial fibrillation points out that women with afib are less likely to have catheter ablation treatment than men. When they do have atrial fibrillation catheter ablations, they tend to be older and sicker, meaning that they are more likely to have persistent or …
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There was an update today on the long-awaited FDA status of Atritech's WATCHMAN® device. If approved, it would provide an alternative to taking Coumadin or warfarin to prevent strokes for those with atrial fibrillation. Here are some quotes from the press release. Minneapolis (March 18, 2010) — Atritech, Inc., an emerging medical device company, announced …
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Genetic tests that show high or low sensitivity to blood thinner (anticoagulant) drugs like warfarin (Coumadin) not only improve dosing accuracy but also reduce hospitalization by 31%, according to a new study just presented at the American College of Cardiology scientific sessions. Coumadin is often prescribed for people who have afib to prevent blood clots …
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Important new research from the STOP AF Study of people with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) shows a type of catheter ablation called cryoablation worked better than drugs to control arrhythmias. One year after treatment, 69.9% of people treated with cryoablation had no episodes of afib compared to 7.3% of those who were treated with anti-arrhythmic …
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The Atrial Fibrillation Association in the UK was shocked by the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to deny atrial fibrillation patients access to dronedarone, a medication that has been approved in the U.S. and Europe. AFA is conducting a campaign to make the voices of atrial fibrillation patients heard. …
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