New research from Denmark shows that CHADS2 underestimates stroke risk. In the study, atrial fibrillation patients who were at intermediate risk with the CHADS2 scoring system had more than twice the stroke rate of those defined by the enhanced CHA2DS2-VASc tool as being at intermediate risk. While CHADS2 deemed 32.3% of patients to have intermediate …
Read More
In this video, Dr. Kenneth Ellenbogen talks about important information presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2010. First he talked about the ROCKET AF clinical trial of rivaroxaban, a new drug that is an alternative to warfarin (Coumadin), as well as another alternative, the recently-approved dabigatran. He provided scenarios as to how these drugs …
Read More
Hybrid ablation is an emerging treatment for patients with persistent and longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation. It is a dual approach, in which an electrophysiologist ablates from inside the heart and the cardiac surgeon ablates on the outside the heart. Dr. James Edgerton, a cardiac surgeon at The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano in Texas, who spoke …
Read More
Check out the latest patient profile at StopAfib.org. Thanks to a catheter ablation that stopped her atrial fibrillation, Michele Straube, an outdoors enthusiast, will be undertaking an adventure that she is calling "Crossing the Heart of the Alps for Atrial Fibrillation Awareness." While you're there, check out all our patient stories.
Read More
Up to 30% of patients could have very late recurrence of atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation, according to research highlighted at the recent Boston AF Symposium. Very late recurrence, which is when atrial fibrillation resumes more than one year after ablation, may be the result of age, gender, type of afib, and existence of other …
Read More
At the recent Boston AF Symposium, investigators of the STOP AF clinical trial, which investigated the effectiveness and safety of Medtronic’s Arctic Front Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system, showed that electrophysiologists who are more experienced with the device had better success rates and no major complications compared to those who had performed just one or two …
Read More
Today's featured story comes from Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium where we talked with Dr. Pierre Jais about new 5-year catheter ablation results that his team at Bordeaux has just published. One-third of these patients had persistent or longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation. These results have been described in the media as "sobering", but hear Dr. Jais …
Read More
StopAfib.org will participate in the National Stroke Association's first annual Virtual Health Fair on Wednesday, January 19, 2011. Learn more now about this free online event and how to register. The Virtual Health Fair is open to anyone interested in stroke prevention and recovery. This event will be like a local health fair – except …
Read More
StopAfib.org has published the 2010 Most Popular Atrial Fibrillation News Stories and Videos List. Stroke prevention topped the list and included stories about warfarin (Coumadin) and alternatives such as dabigatran (Pradaxa) and rivaroxaban (Xarelto). Other popular topics included the new European atrial fibrillation guidelines, new antiarrhythmic medications, updates on catheter ablation and afib surgery, and …
Read More
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Medtronic Arctic Front® Cardiac CryoAblation Catheter system for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. This is the first cryo (freezing) catheter ablation system to receive approval in the US. Approval was based on the results of the STOP AF (Sustained Treatment of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation) …
Read More