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Dr. Douglas L. Packer, MD, FHRS, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
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“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
The Year in Review: Highlights and Achievements
When I think about the field of atrial fibrillation in 2013, several thoughts come to mind. There were technical advancements, some new drug therapies, and additions to our understanding of Atrial Fibrillation (and a few accomplishments for our A-Fib.com website).
Heart Imaging And Mapping Systems
Perhaps the most important technical innovations in 2013 for A-Fib patients were the introduction of two new heart imaging and mapping systems. A third system, the Bioelectronic Catheter, represents a whole new technology with tremendous potential for A-Fib patients.
The ECGI System
The ECGI system, combined with a CT scan, produces a complete 3-D image of your heart along with identifying all the A-Fib-producing spots. Think of it as an ECG with 256 special high resolution electrodes rather than 12. It greatly reduces your ablation time and your radiation exposure.
A day before your ablation, you simply don a special vest with 256 electrodes covering your upper torso, and lay down. The 3-D image created is a road map of your heart with all the focal and rotor areas (A-Fib-producing spots) identified. During your ablation your EP simply ablates the “guilty” areas. Read more of my article…
The FIRM System
The FIRM system uses a different approach to mapping the heart and the A-Fib producing spots. It uses a basket catheter inside the heart to map large areas in a single pass and reveal the location of foci and rotors. Read more of my article…
Why are these two technologies important? ECGI allows your imaging & mapping to be performed the day prior to your ablation, rather than during your ablation. This shortens the length of your ablation procedure. In addition it reduces your radiation exposure and produces remarkably accurate 3D images of your heart and identifies where A-Fib signals are coming from. The FIRM system, though performed during an ablation rather than before it, may be a significant improvement over the Lasso catheter mapping system now in current use. Both systems may mark a new level of imaging/mapping for A-Fib.
Stretchable Electronics Meets the Balloon Catheter
The merging of living systems with electronic systems is called “bioelectronics”. Key is a flexible, pliable circuit made from organic materials—the carbon-based building blocks of life. Bioelectronics have entered the EP lab with a prototype of a ‘bioelectronic catheter’, the marriage of a pliable integrated circuit with a catheter balloon.
In a mapping application, the deflated bioelectronic balloon catheter is slipped into the heart, then pumped up. The inflated integrated circuit conforms to the heart’s grooves and makes contact with hard-to-reach tissue. It can map a hundred electrical signals simultaneously, across a wider area and in far greater detail than had been previously possible. And it’s being developed to function in reverse. For ablation applications, instead of detecting current, it can apply precise electrical burns. This is a potentially breakthrough technology that may well change the way catheter mapping and ablation are performed. (Thanks to David Holzman for calling our attention to this ground-breaking research article.)
This is a remarkable time in the history of A-Fib treatment. Three very different technologies are poised to radically improve the way A-Fib is detected, mapped and ablated. We’ll look back at 2013 as a watershed year for A-Fib patients.
Three New Anticoagulants
In 2013 we saw three new anticoagulants, a welcome development for A-Fib patients. Note: the new anticoagulants are very expensive compared to the proven anticoagulant warfarin.
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How do they compare to warfarin?
Warfarin seems to have a slightly higher chance of producing intracranial bleeding.
In general stay away from Pradaxa. There are horrible ER reports of patients bleeding to death from even minor cuts, because there is no antidote or reversal agent. Read more about my Pradaxa warning…
Eliquis, in general, tested better than Xarelto in the clinical trials, but it’s so new we don’t have a lot of real-world data on it yet. And, as with Pradaxa, neither have antidotes or reversal agents.
In addition, there was what some consider a major problem with the clinical trials comparing the new anticoagulants to warfarin. ‘Compliance’ rates by warfarin users were poor (many either weren’t taking their warfarin or weren’t in the proper INR range). Did this skew the results?
And finally, unlike warfarin where effectiveness can be measured with INR levels, we don’t have any way to measure how effectively the new blood thinners actually anticoagulate blood. Read more of my article “Warfarin vs. Pradaxa and the Other New Anticoagulants“.
Keep in mind: ‘New’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘better’ or ‘more effective’ for You.
High Blood Pressure with Your A-Fib? Is Renal Denervation a solution?
As many as 30% of people with A-Fib also have high blood pressure which can’t be lowered by meds, exercise, diet, etc. There was hope that Renal Denervation would help.
With Renal Denervation, an ablation catheter is threaded into the left and right arteries leading to the kidneys, then RF energy is applied to the nerves in the vascular walls of the arteries, hopefully reducing ‘Sympathetic Tone’, lowering high blood pressure and reducing A-Fib. For many people Renal Denervation seemed the only realistic hope of lowering their high blood pressure. However, the Medtronic Simplicity-3 trial indicated that renal denervation doesn’t work. Read more of this article… For 2014 news on this topic, read more…
A Study of Obesity and A-Fib: A-Fib Potentially Reversible
Obesity is a well known cause or trigger of A-Fib, probably because it puts extra pressure and stress on the Pulmonary Vein openings where most A-Fib starts.
In 2013 A research study report focused on obese patients with A-Fib. Those who lost a significant amount of weight also had 2.5 times less A-Fib episodes and reduced their left atrial area and intra-ventricular septal thickness.
Good news! Losing weight can potentially reverse some of the remodeling effects of A-Fib. Related article: Obesity in Young Women Doubles Chances of Developing A-Fib.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea and A-Fib
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is another well recognized cause or trigger of A-Fib. Anyone with A-Fib should be tested for sleep apnea.
Earlier studies have shown approximately two-thirds (62%) of patients with paroxysmal or persistent A-Fib suffer from sleep apnea. In 2013, research reports showed that the worse one’s sleep apnea is, the worse A-Fib can become. In addition, sleep apnea often predicts A-Fib recurrence after catheter ablation.
Before an ablation, Dr. Sidney Peykar of the Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute in Florida, requires all his A-Fib patients be tested for sleep apnea. If they have sleep apnea, they must use CPAP therapy after their ablation procedure.
A-Fib.com: Our New Website’s First Year
The original A-Fib.com web site was created using the phased out software MS FrontPage. Thanks to a “no strings attached” grant from Medtronic, A-Fib.com was reinvented with a more up-to-date but familiar look, and features more functionality (built on an infra-structure using Joomla and WordPress). We can now grow the site and add features and functions as needed.
It involved a tremendous amount of work. A special thanks to Sharion Cox for building the new site and for technical support. My wife, Patti Ryan, designed the look and all graphics. (I can’t thank Patti enough; I’m so lucky!)
A-Fib.com Project:
Update the Directory of Doctors & Facilities
Back when I started A-Fib.com in 2002, there were less than a dozen sites performing ablations for A-Fib. Today our Directory of Doctors and Facilities lists well over 1,000 centers in the US, plus many sites worldwide.
Increasingly, doctors were writing me asking why they weren’t included, or why their info was incorrect since they had moved, etc. To update our records and our service to A-Fib patients, starting in July 2013, we prepared and mailed letters to over 1,000 doctors/facilities. We asked each to update/verify their listing (and include a contact person for our use).
Note to Doctors! If you haven’t updated your listing in our A-Fib.com Directory of Doctors and Facilities, just use our Contact Us form to email me and I’ll send you the form to fill in and return.
The response to our bulk mailing was great. The data input started in October and continued for several months (as time allowed). Recently, we cut over to the ‘new’ Directory menu and pages.
What’s Ahead for A-Fib.com in 2014
2014 Boston AFib Symposium Reports: Check out my new reports from the 2014 Boston A-Fib Symposium (BAFS) held January 9-11, 2014 in Orlando FL.
The first two reports are posted. Look for more reports soon. I usually end up with 12-15 reports in total.
Our a-Fib.com Directory of Doctors & Facilities: Work on updating our listings is still underway. We need to contact those who did not respond to our request for verification or updating of their listing. (Shall we write again or maybe make phone calls?)
Amazon Best Sellers list: Our book sales continue to grow. Did you know that our book ‘Beat Your A-Fib’ has been on Amazon’s Best Sellers list continually in two categories (Disorders & Diseases Reference and Heart Disease) since its debut in March 2012? Visit Amazon.com and read over 40 customer reviews.
Help A-Fib.com Become Self-sustaining: We plan to step up our efforts to make A-Fib.com a self-sustaining site. (Since 2002, Steve and Patti Ryan have personally funded A-Fib.com with an occassional reader’s donation.)
Bookmark this link! |   Visit our shop at Spreadshirt.com. |
In our efforts toward sustainabiliy, several years ago we added a PayPal ‘Donate’ button (you don’t need a PayPal account to donate) and invited donations toward our onlline maintenance costs.
Then, a year or so ago, we added a portal link to Amazon.com. When you use our Amazon.com link, A-Fib.com receives a small commission on each sale (at no extra cost to you).
Our newest effort is our ‘A-Fib can be Cured! shop with T-shirts and more at Spreadshirt.com. With each shirt purchase $2 goes to support A-Fib.com. (We will roll out new designs every quarter or so).
Posted February 2014
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Last updated: Wednesday, February 11, 2015
