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.

History made: Young child treated with new heart device for very first time
A care team in Illinois has performed the first heart procedure of its kind on a two-year-old patient diagnosed with Brugada syndrome.
ACC offers practical approaches for arrhythmia monitoring after stroke
The American College of Cardiology published an expert consensus on practical approaches for arrhythmia monitoring after stroke to improve post-stroke care by identifying and managing atrial fibrillation.
FDA announces recall of cryoablation catheters after multiple injuries, including 4 deaths
Boston Scientific is recalling the catheters associated with its POLARx Cryoablation System due to a heightened risk of esophageal injury. The FDA has ruled that this a Class I recall.
Cardiologists perform world’s first leadless LBBAP procedures with Abbott pacemaker
The first-in-human procedures were performed in Prague with the investigational Aveir CSP leadless pacemaker system.
President of medical device company resigns over conduct allegations after 7 months in role
Joseph C. Wright, a longtime Merit Medical employee, resigned after unspecified allegations regarding his conduct were brought to light. He was named the company's new president back in May.

Experts dispute 9 of 17 genes once linked to long QT syndrome

A panel of experts from the Clinical Genome Resource are publicly disputing nine of 17 genes once thought to be linked to long QT syndrome.

February 3, 2020

AI to help ID cardiac arrest from emergency phone calls

Emergency phone operators in Victoria, Australia, may soon have access to AI that could alert them to callers in cardiac arrest, ZDNet reports.

February 3, 2020

FDA OKs study of tech that uses pulsed electric fields to treat AFib

The FDA has approved a Medtronic-run trial, PULSED AF, to evaluate the safety and efficacy of new tech that uses pulsed electric fields to treat AFib.

January 24, 2020

Burnout boosts likelihood of atrial fibrillation

Burnout may increase a person’s risk of developing atrial fibrillation by as much as 20%, researchers reported this month in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

January 24, 2020

FDA approves world’s smallest pacemaker with AV synchrony

Medtronic announced Jan. 21 it had received FDA approval for its Micra AV device—the world’s smallest pacemaker with atrioventricular synchrony.

January 22, 2020

Mechanical hyperventilation could streamline cardiac ablation

A medical technique that involves safely hyperventilating conscious, unmedicated patients could facilitate the use of radiotherapy for cardiac ablation, according to research published in Frontiers in Physiology.

January 20, 2020

HRS, CTA pen consumer guidelines for CV wearables

The Heart Rhythm Society and Consumer Technology Association will debut new consumer guidelines this week focused on wearables that detect and monitor cardiovascular metrics.

January 7, 2020

Warfarin more harmful to bone health than DOACs

A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine last month found that direct oral anticoagulants were more effective in minimizing AFib patients’ risk of experiencing fracture than warfarin, supporting the theory that the blood thinner might be harmful to bone health.

December 20, 2019

Heart Rhythm

History made: Young child treated with new heart device for very first time

ACC offers practical approaches for arrhythmia monitoring after stroke

FDA announces recall of cryoablation catheters after multiple injuries, including 4 deaths

Cardiologists perform world’s first leadless LBBAP procedures with Abbott pacemaker

President of medical device company resigns over conduct allegations after 7 months in role