Jens Cosedis Nielsen, MD, principal investigator of MANTRA-PAF, spoke with Cardiovascular Business about the findings of his 2011 AHA late-breaking clinical trial.

ORLANDO, Fla.—Jens Cosedis Nielsen, MD, principal investigator of MANTRA-PAF, spoke with Cardiovascular Business about how the findings from this study could lead to radiofrequency (RF) ablation being used as a first-line therapy for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF), as opposed to antiarrhythmic drugs. MANTRA-PAF was presented as a late-breaking clinical trial Nov. 14 at the 2011 meeting of the American Heart Association (AHA).

Nielsen spoke about a need to better treat this growing population. He and his colleagues randomly assessed participants to either receive drug therapy (148 patients) or RF ablation (146 patients). Ablation therapy was at least as good as antiarrhythmic drug therapy at preventing episodes of AF. However, he recommended careful patient selection, as not every patient should be offered ablation.

This video was conducted collaboratively with ClinicalTrialResults.org.