Hey all, I’m working hard here in Munich. There was news made today in the AF world. The European Society of Cardiology has updated its 2010 AF treatment guidelines with a focused update. Here’s my attempt at a summary of six major focus points over at Trials and Fibrillations on theHeart.org. JMM
Category: Atrial fibrillation
I cheated–a little. I promised to post on some of the ways I use rhythm-control medicines for AF. I did indeed post about this topic–just not here. As I wrote and edited and stewed about rhythm medicine for AF, it occurred to me that this would be a great topic to write about on Trials […]
Let’s talk about some of the factors that go into choosing medicines to suppress AF episodes. We call this “rhythm control.” In Part 1, I introduced some of the complexities of heart rhythm medicine. In this post, I hope to clarify a few of the many issues that come into play when considering a rhythm […]
What’s the best medicine for treating AF? Now that is a frequently asked question. You already know the answer. But perhaps the obvious deserves a few words? First, let’s clarify what we are talking about when we use the term AF medicine. I’m speaking here about the so-called anti-arrhythmic drugs. Other names include “membrane-active†or […]
For those interested in atrial fibrillation, there was significant news made last week. Dr. Sanjay Narayan and colleagues, including highly respected Indiana University electrophysiologist, Dr. John Miller (also a JMM), finally published their exciting data on FIRM ablation. The CONFIRM trial (Conventional Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation With or Without Focal Impulse and Rotor Modulation) has […]
I thought this was interesting: Six-placed Tour finisher Haimar Zubeldia, who rides for the US-based RadioShack/Nissan/Trek team, disclosed that he sat out for three months earlier this season for “persistent atrial fibrillation.” As reported by Cyclingnews.com, Mr Zubeldia said this in his statement: “I had four weeks of complete rest and treatment.†Fortunately, “everything went […]
When you have 15 minutes, I’d recommend heading over to the Private Practice Blog of Dr Seth Bilazarian at theHeart.org. Dr B has beautifully summarized both the clinical and real world factors that go into the difficult decision of which blood thinner to choose for prevention of stroke in patients with AF. Seth has a […]
There was big news this week on the much-anticipated, but yet-to-be-evaluated novel blood thinner, apixaban (Eliquis). The FDA wants more information from the ARISTOTLE trial. They have inquired about “data management and verification.” That sounds serious. I made some comments about apixaban over at Trials and Fibrillations on theHeart.org. Here’s the mystery: Apixaban boasts incredibly […]
The good news: Patients with heart disease have enjoyed great advances in stroke and heart attack prevention in the last few years. The bad news: most of these advances have involved novel new blood-thinning drugs. The idea of blood thinners is quite simple: Heart attacks and strokes most often stem from clotted blood. The same […]
I am grateful that influential physician and social media leader, Dr. Kevin Pho (@KevinMD), re-posted my recent dabigatran comments. As is often the case with these new drugs, a spirited conversation ensued. Head over to KevinMD and take a look at my answers to some valid issues with the drug. Also, there’s a ton of […]
The safety of AF ablation depends greatly on the adequacy of blood thinning. AF ablation is no cardioversion. The choices of blood thinning regimens include either warfarin or dabigatran (Pradaxa)–and soon perhaps rivaroxaban or apixaban. The advantages of warfarin include the ability to confirm the level of thinness and its long-acting properties lessen after-procedure gaps […]