Oversized devices are becoming more common as time goes on, which suggests operators are growing increasingly comfortable with this treatment choice.

A randomized study of more than 450 patients with persistent atrial fibrillation is now underway. All patients have been treated, and their outcomes will be tracked for 12 months. 

VT storm is associated with a heightened risk of death or significant complications. Early catheter ablation, it seems, is the most effective treatment option for this potentially fatal condition. 

However, researchers noted, there is still considerable room for improvement.

The drug allows patients to take control over their condition with self administration and the therapy and may help lower healthcare costs and resource utilization by keeping these patients out of emergency rooms. 

Jason Andrade, MD, director of electrophysiology, Vancouver General Hospital, and principal investigator of the PROGRESSIVE AF trial, explains how cryoablation can be used as a frontline treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib) before drugs in this AHA late-breaker. 

“The evidence shows increasingly that it’s time to rethink how we approach the treatment of AFib,” one researcher said.

Atrial fibrillation and peripheral artery disease, for example, are both predictors of mortality among women, but not men.