Study: Ablation Beats Drugs for Atrial Fibrillation
Study: Ablation Beats Drugs for Atrial Fibrillation
Catheter Ablation Better Than Drugs at Treating Some Atrial Fibrillation Patients
Jan. 26, 2010 -- Treating the common heart rhythm disorder known as atrial fibrillation by destroying a small area of heart tissue using a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments in many patients, a new study confirms.
About 2.2 million Americans have the heart disorder, which occurs when the two upper chambers of the heart, or atria, quiver erratically instead of beating effectively. As a result, blood may pool and clot in the heart, increasing the risk for stroke and heart failure.
Catheter ablation involves the use radiofrequency energy to destroy selected heart tissue in an effort to eliminate the source of the irregular heart rhythm.
In the newly published study, two-thirds of patients who had failed to respond to earlier drug treatments had no symptoms of the irregular heart rhythm nine months after having the catheter ablation procedure.
The study appears this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“It is clear that once drugs fail, further attempts to use drug therapy are not useful,” lead researcher David Wilber, MD, of Loyola University Chicago Stretch School of Medicine tells WebMD. “Catheter ablation works and it should be used early, before symptoms become persistent.”
The incidence of atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, is on the rise in the United States as the population ages. According to the American Heart Association, as many as 5% of people over the age of 65 have the condition.
Unlike many other heart rhythm disturbances, pacemakers are not commonly used to treat A-fib.
People with A-fib may have no symptoms or they may feel chest pain, heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, and fainting. The abnormal heart rhythm is often intermittent at first, but it may become persistent.
Diane Clark, 64, had lived with A-fib for 3 1/2 years before having the ablation procedure in December 2009 at Loyola University Medical Center.
“During a bad week, I would have three to five episodes,” she tells WebMD. “When I stood up, I was so dizzy I thought I would faint.”
Study: Ablation Beats Drugs for Atrial Fibrillation
Catheter Ablation Better Than Drugs at Treating Some Atrial Fibrillation Patients
Jan. 26, 2010 -- Treating the common heart rhythm disorder known as atrial fibrillation by destroying a small area of heart tissue using a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments in many patients, a new study confirms.
About 2.2 million Americans have the heart disorder, which occurs when the two upper chambers of the heart, or atria, quiver erratically instead of beating effectively. As a result, blood may pool and clot in the heart, increasing the risk for stroke and heart failure.
Catheter ablation involves the use radiofrequency energy to destroy selected heart tissue in an effort to eliminate the source of the irregular heart rhythm.
In the newly published study, two-thirds of patients who had failed to respond to earlier drug treatments had no symptoms of the irregular heart rhythm nine months after having the catheter ablation procedure.
The study appears this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“It is clear that once drugs fail, further attempts to use drug therapy are not useful,” lead researcher David Wilber, MD, of Loyola University Chicago Stretch School of Medicine tells WebMD. “Catheter ablation works and it should be used early, before symptoms become persistent.”
Atrial Fibrillation: One Patient’s Story
The incidence of atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, is on the rise in the United States as the population ages. According to the American Heart Association, as many as 5% of people over the age of 65 have the condition.
Unlike many other heart rhythm disturbances, pacemakers are not commonly used to treat A-fib.
People with A-fib may have no symptoms or they may feel chest pain, heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, and fainting. The abnormal heart rhythm is often intermittent at first, but it may become persistent.
Diane Clark, 64, had lived with A-fib for 3 1/2 years before having the ablation procedure in December 2009 at Loyola University Medical Center.
“During a bad week, I would have three to five episodes,” she tells WebMD. “When I stood up, I was so dizzy I thought I would faint.”