Active clinical trials for "Atrial Fibrillation"

The purpose of this study is to accurately investigate the efficacy of dronedarone in maintaining sinus rhythm and decreasing AFB in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation as compared with placebo. This has never previously been performed using pacemaker Holter monitoring which provides detailed information of atrial arrhythmia patterns the entire study period. Additionally detailed patient symptom self assessment and questionnaires will be collected. The study design will be double blinded crossover with each phase lasting 3 months.

It is well known that abnormal heart beats from the top parts of the heart, atrial fibrillation (AF) and atrial flutter (Aflut), occur frequently after most types of cardiac surgeries. Postoperative AF and Aflut are associated with significant morbidity, longer hospital stay, and higher related costs. Currently therapies are marginally effective at preventing this abnormal heart beat. The incidence of abnormal heart beats after cardiac surgery seems to be a function of the amount of inflammation and oxidative stress induced. Our group and others have shown that atrial abnormal heart beats are associated with increased oxidative stress. Thiazolidinediones (TZDs) are medications used to treat diabetes. Beside their glucose lowering effects, TZDs are shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Therefore, we propose to retrospectively analyze the effect of pre-operative TZDs on the incidence of post-operative AF or Aflut. This study will involve retrospective chart reviews without further patient contact of all patients having undergone cardiac surgery in Emory University Hospital, Crawford Long Hospital, or the VA Medical Center from 2000 to 2005. This study is preparatory to a funding proposal for a prospective trial.

In this randomized study dealing with the ablative treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation, two ablation strategies are compared: a more anatomically guided linear ablation scheme versus an electrophysiological guided focal ablation strategy aiming at the electrical isolating of the pulmonary veins and ablating areas of fragmented intracardiac electrograms thought to maintain atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE Two out of three Americans are overweight and obesity is associated with hypertension, sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation. Metabolic syndrome with centripetal obesity is also a precursor to insulin resistance and the development of Type II diabetes mellitus. While multiple strategies for weight reduction are often recommended in physician visits, calculating calories and energy expenditure is often inconvenient and does not promote compliance. Intermittent fasting, or time-restricted eating, is a methods to limit caloric intake by fasting for 16 hours to promote ketosis and suppress insulin secretion. Weight loss and reduction in body fat has been observed with brief periods of intervention as time-restricted eating results in reduction in overall caloric intake. Prospective feasibility studies and randomized comparative trials with intermittent fasting are lacking. The investigators recommend caloric restriction in all of our patients that suffer from arrhythmias and BMI >30. However, they have not systematically measured compliance and the efficacy of lifestyle interventions. Lifestyle counseling and weight loss has been shown to decrease the progression and burden of symptomatic atrial fibrillation. Intermittent fasting can result in consistent reductions in body fat and weight without specific lifestyle counseling. The aim of the present observation cohort study is to assess the feasibility of recommending intermittent fasting in an arrhythmia clinic with regard to compliance and efficacy. The investigators hypothesize that compliance and adherence to a 16/8 intermittent fasting regimen will be >25% and result in weight loss, compared to the 6 month trend prior to the intervention. This pilot study will serve as the basis to power the first randomized trial comparing intermittent fasting with other types of dietary counseling for arrhythmia outcomes. OBJECTIVES To prospectively assess compliance to prescribed intermittent fasting, measured by adherence and change in weight at 6 months.

Atrial fibrillation and inflammation are strongly correlated. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether inflammation markers (alpha Defensin) predict maintenance of sinus rhythm following cardioversion. A secondary aim is to evaluate the role of Colchicine, an anti-inflammatory medication, in reducing the recurrence rate of atrial fibrillation.

The aim of the present study is to compare the safety and short-term performance between THERMOCOOL SMARTTOUCH SF-5D QDOT system used with fast ablation mode and the standard Thermocool Smartouch SF in treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia encountered in clinical practice. Previous studies have shown that rate control strategy in AF is non-inferior to rhythm control strategy, in terms of stroke and mortality risk. In addition, rate control strategy is associated with lower risk of hospitalization and non-cardiovascular mortality. Therefore, rate control is an essential strategy to improve quality of life, decrease morbidity and prevent tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy in AF patients. The recommended rate control agents include beta-blocker, nondihydropyridine calcium-channel blocker (CCB), digoxin and amiodarone. However, in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction patient, the medication of rate control were beta-blocker than digoxin. But several clinical observation study show excess mortality in AF patients. Ivabradine, a If inhibitor, it is well-established that a pacemaker current, If current, is functionally expressed in the sinus node . Previous studies have shown that Ivabradine, If inhibitor, significantly reduces sinus rate and improves prognosis in patients with systolic heart failure. Interestingly, several investigators found that hyperpolarization- activated cyclic nucleotidylated channel 4 current (HCN4), the main isoform of the channel responsible for If current, is also functionally expressed in the Atrioventricular node(AV node). Recent data have shown that inhibition of If current slows AV node conduction in animals and humans. Thus, we want to compare the effect of Ivabradine on ventricular rate with digoxin in this study.

This study is designed to investigate the role of lipids/lipoproteins as a potential cause for the harmful changes seen in fibrin clot properties with renal dysfunction and atrial fibrillation

The study aims to investigate the short-term (3 months) and intermediate-term (12 months) safety and preliminary efficacy of stereotactic radiotherapy for pulmonary vein isolation to treat refractory atrial fibrillation.

to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of CKD-825 in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation