Doctors & patients are saying about 'A-Fib.com'...
"A-Fib.com is a great web site for patients, that is unequaled by anything else out there."
Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
"Jill and I put you and your work in our prayers every night. What you do to help people through this [A-Fib] process is really incredible."
Jill and Steve Douglas, East Troy, WI
“I really appreciate all the information on your website as it allows me to be a better informed patient and to know what questions to ask my EP.
Faye Spencer, Boise, ID, April 2017
“I think your site has helped a lot of patients.”Dr. Hugh G. Calkins, MD Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore, MD
2017 AF Symposium
Live Case: Ablation using CardioFocus Laser Balloon
Video streaming from Na Homolce Hospital in Prague, The Czech Republic. Drs. Peter Neuzil, Jan Petru and Jan Skoda, in their second live case, did an ablation using the CardioFocus HeartLight Endoscopic Visually Guided Laser Balloon (FDA approved April 4, 2016).
Direct Visualization
The doctors showed how they could directly see the Pulmonary Vein opening they were ablating (unlike RF and CryoBalloon systems).
The center of the catheter has an endoscopic (looking inside) camera. (To me, this is a major advantage and ground-breaking improvement for patients.) (Watch :13 video clip)
Laser Energy For Ablation
CardioFocus HeartLight Laser Balloon
In the center of the catheter is an optical fiber which produces an arc of laser (near infrared) energy. When they applied this laser energy, it looked like a green flashing light that circled the PV.
The doctors said that watching this circulating green arc allowed them to visually see if they were making complete circular lesions of the PV.
They later used a regular Lasso catheter to check for ablation integrity.
Variable Diameter Compliant Balloon
The doctors also showed how the CardioFocus HeartLight system uses a variable diameter compliant balloon which can be sized to fit into a wide range of PV openings.
One preliminary research article suggested that the Laser Balloon system clinical outcomes were an improvement over CryoBalloon ablation.
VIDEO ANIMATION: For a one-minute animation of how the CardioFocus HeartLight system works, see Visually Guided Ablation.
Editor’s Comments:
The CardioFocus HeartLight Laser Balloon catheter seems like a major advance in the treatment of A-Fib, To be able to look directly at the PV opening instead of using fluoroscopy, etc. should make an EP’s ablation task much easier and potentially more effective. And having a variable diameter compliant balloon is an added plus.
But when I talked with the CardioFocus rep at the AF Symposium exhibit hall, he said they were in the process of rolling out the Laser Balloon system to various centers. It may be a short while till the system is up and operational nationwide in the U.S. (It’s already in use in Europe.) We will try to list which centers use the Laser Balloon system.
If real world experience proves its effectiveness, the CardioFocus HeartLight Laser Balloon system may eventually make CryoBalloon ablation a secondary player.
Return to 2017 AF Symposium Reports
If you find any errors on this page, email us. ♥ Last updated: Sunday, February 12, 2017
