Active clinical trials for "Atrial Fibrillation"

The purpose of this prospective randomized study is to assess whether empirical Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) isolation along with the standard approach of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) and ablation of extra-pulmonary triggers is superior to the standard approach alone in enhancing the long-term success rate of catheter ablation in persistent or long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) patients.

Atrial fibrillation and heart failure are two common heart conditions that are associated with an increase in death and suffering. When both of these two conditions occur in a patient the patient's prognosis is poor. These patients have poor life quality and are frequently admitted to the hospital. The treatment of atrial fibrillation in heart failure patients is extremely challenging. Two options for managing the atrial fibrillation are permitting the atrial fibrillation to continue but controlling the heart rate, or to convert the atrial fibrillation rhythm back to normal and try to maintain the heart in sinus rhythm. Until now, the method to keep the patient in normal sinus rhythm is with antiarrhythmic drugs. Studies using antiarrhythmic drugs to control the rhythm failed to show any survival benefit when compared with permitting the patient to be in atrial fibrillation. In the last few years, new development in techniques and technologies now enable catheter ablation (cauterization of tissue in the heart with a catheter) to be a successful treatment in abolishing atrial fibrillation and that this approach is better than antiarrhythmic drug to control the rhythm. However, there has not been any long-term study to determine whether catheter ablation to abolish atrial fibrillation in heart failure patients would reduce mortality or admissions for heart failure. This study is to compare the effect of catheter ablation-based atrial fibrillation rhythm control to rate control in patients with heart failure and high burden atrial fibrillation on the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality and heart failure events defined as an admission to a healthcare facility for > 24 hours or clinically significant worsening heart failure leading to an intervention (defined as treatment in an emergency department, a same-day access clinic, or an infusion centre) or unscheduled visits to a healthcare provider for administration of an intravenous diuretic and an increase in chronic heart failure therapy. This study may have a dramatic impact on the way the investigators manage these patients with atrial fibrillation and heart failure and may improve the outlook and well being of these patients.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of ranolazine and of low-dose dronedarone when given alone and in combination at different dose levels on atrial fibrillation burden (AFB) over 12 weeks of treatment. AFB is defined as the total time a participant is in atrial tachycardia/atrial fibrillation (AT/AF) expressed as a percentage of total recording time.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequent sustained cardiac arrhythmia, impairs quality of life and increases stroke risk and mortality. Recent clinical experience with the Arctic Front™ cryoballoon ablation catheter system (Medtronic) suggests that it can be used to isolate the pulmonary veins (PVs) safely and effectively in patients with AF, thereby eliminating the recurrence of AF. Hypothesis: Our hypotheses are (1) that visualization of real-time pulmonary vein conduction during cryoballoon ablation of atrial fibrillation using a novel spiral circumferential mapping catheter (Achieve™) is feasible and safe, and (2) that procedure and fluoroscopy times decrease with experience. Objective: The purpose of this study is to assess safety, feasibility, and a learning curve associated with cryoballoon catheter ablation using a novel circular mapping catheter (Achieve™, Medtronic) inserted through the lumen of the cryoballoon in patients with symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The primary goal is to evaluate successful pulmonary vein isolation using the Achieve™ mapping catheter. The reduction of procedure and fluoroscopy times during the first 40 patients treated with this approach will be analyzed to evaluate a potential learning curve upon introduction of the technique.

Primary Objective: - Evaluate the rate of Atrial Fibrillation (AF) recurrences one month after randomization according to different timings of initiation of dronedarone. Secondary Objective: Evaluate the rate of AF recurrences two months after randomization. Assess the safety of the change from amiodarone to dronedarone Assess dronedarone safety Explore dronedarone and its active metabolite plasma level (in a subset of countries) Explore potential Pharmacokinetic (PK) interaction between dronedarone and amiodarone (in a subset of countries)

This is a 2x2 factorial randomized controlled trial (KPAF Trial), evaluating two different pharmacological approaches to improve long-term outcome of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). The study is composed of UNmasking Dormant Electrical Reconduction by Adenosine TriPhosphate (UNDER-ATP) Trial and Efficacy of Antiarrhythmic Drugs Short-Term Use after Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation (EAST-AF) Trial. Patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF will be randomized to ATP guide ablation or control group in a 1:1 ratio before the procedure (UNDER-ATP Trial). Excluding those with severe procedural complications or substantial bradycardia identified first after ablation for persistent AF, patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to antiarrhythmic-drug (AAD) or control group after the procedure (EAST-AF Trial).

This prospective, multi-center, single blinded study aims to compare the influence of two different catheter ablation strategies, on long-term ablation outcome in terms of AF recurrence and quality of life (QoL) in patients presenting with coexistent AF and AFL. The two strategies to be evaluated are 1) the ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) with or without flutter (AFL) ablation (AF ± AFL) versus 2) AFL ablation alone.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia affecting the Canadian population. AF is associated with increased risk of stroke,HF, and even mortality. AF can cause debilitating symptoms, adversely affect patient's (pt's) quality of life and functional status. Hence a strategy of sinus rhythm (SR) may be pursued over a strategy of allowing AF to persist. Percutaneous catheter ablation is an effective alternative to antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) for maintaining SR. The success rate of PV isolation off AAD is about 80-90% in pt's with PAF, but repeat procedures are required in up to 40% of pt's. After one ablation, the success rate may only be 50-70% off drugs.Current standard ablation procedures for PV antral isolation employ mapping systems which reconstructions of the LA and PV anatomy are created. Visualization may be supplemented by integration of CT/ MRI images and/or intracardiac echocardiography. Robotic navigation has been employed to assist in ablation. Based on single point unipolar radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheter where lesions are created point-by-point around the PVs to obtain electrical isolation.This results in lengthy complex, costly procedures,often more than 4 hours, which requires high degree of operator skill.Creation of contiguous, transmural lesions is challenging with standard single-point RF. A novel multipolar catheter ablation system has been evaluated for achieving PV isolation (PVAC catheter, Medtronic Inc.) An over-the-wire circular mapping/ablation catheter can be advanced into the PV antrum, and multiple lesions around the circumference of the catheter can be delivered simultaneously using duty-cycled unipolar and bipolar RF energy. Early reports, the system can achieve complete PV isolation with reduced fluoroscopy and procedural times using lower powers to achieve more reliable lesion sets.Long-term efficacy also seems comparable to standard RF ablation.This novel technology has potential to broaden the application of AF ablation, making procedures less time-consuming, less complex without compromising procedural efficacy. Published data PVAC technology outcomes are limited to studies with small sample sizes of 12-102 pt's. Data has been restricted to a small number of European centers performing moderate numbers of PVAC procedures. There is no prospective, multicenter data. Little is known about the efficiency of PVAC procedures, allowing for an assessment of cost-effectiveness in using this technology.

Dose-ranging Phase II study testing the efficacy and safety of 3 doses of Ranolazine (low, intermediate and high, given BID) versus placebo in maintaining sinus rhythm after successful electrical cardioversion in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AFib). After successful cardioversion and subsequent randomisation, patients report trans-telephonic EGCs on a daily basis to a central core ECG facility. Maximum treatment duration is 112 days (16 weeks).

The general objective of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of n-3 fatty acids, 2.4 grams per day, to prevent recurrence of atrial fibrillation in patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF in whom a rhythm-control strategy is planned.