View clinical trials related to Atrial Fibrillation.
Filter by:Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia, affecting 1% of adults, with its prevalence increasing with age [1]. It is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Most patients who develop AF have architectural and anisotropic micro changes in the atrial myocardium. These cause heterogeneous and discontinuous changes in the patterns of impulse propagation, heterogeneous atrial activation and shortening of atrial refractory period [2, 3]. Since 1911 the standard EKG [4] (approximately 15 seconds of recording and bandwidth 0.05 to 150 Hz) is the most used tool for the evaluation of patients with arrhythmias, due to its low cost and high availability. Various electrocardiographic patterns are known predictors of AF as evidenced by direct visual inspection. For example, prolongation of P wave duration during sinus rhythm would correlate with structural changes such as increasing the size of the left atrium (the increase in left atrial pressure) or a decrease in driving time [5]. These changes favor the development of reentry circuits responsible for the development and maintenance of AF. The registration of the electrocardiographic activity provides much more information than evidenced by direct visual inspection. Biosignal processing of these specific techniques to detect potential delays caused by abnormal conduction of the myocardium that favor re-entry mechanisms [6-10]. For this purpose prolonged ECG with 1000 Hz sampling frequency. Knowledge about the prediction of the development of AF with the standard ECG is not obvious on visual inspection is limited. Many of these structural changes and anisotropic, occur slowly over time and may be evidenced by direct variations between 2 ECG from the same individual [11]. Little is known about whether differences in morphology, axis, scope or duration of P wave related to these structural changes may predict the development of AF. Our main purpose is to evaluate the prognostic performance of a set of parameters as evidenced by direct inspection of the ECG, and ECG changes from 2 to predict the FA development. The design of this tool could allow future generation of software capable of identifying and reporting these variations, most useful prognostic risk in patients with AF.
You are being scheduled to undergo an ablation procedure to treat your atrial fibrillation. Complications of ablation procedures include damage to structures near the heart from the heat energy used during the ablation procedure. These complications include damage to the esophagus (the tube through which food passes when you swallow) and stomach. A rare but often fatal complication resulting from severe heat damage is called an atrio-esophageal fistula (an abnormal connection between the heart and esophagus). However, the frequency of minimal damage to the esophagus or nerves of the gut that may go unnoticed are not known. This study is designed to determine how often atrial fibrillation ablation causes problems with the stomach and esophagus.
One common occurrence following open heart surgery is an irregular rhythm from the top chambers of the heart known as atrial fibrillation (afib or AF). It is known that about 30% of patients who have had bypass surgery without having a heart valve replaced at the same time will develop AF. It is felt that this occurrence leads to factors that will affect a subjects health for the rest of their life. In studying this the investigators will see if post operative afib is an indicator of a person having afib and is not a condition that may only last during the post op recovery period as many physicians feel.The problem in question is, is post operative afib only transient or is it an indicator for more long term episodes of afib that may lead to other health concerns like stroke. Fifty subjects will be asked to participate. There will be to groups of 25 subjects. All subjects will have a device implanted under the skin that will be able to detect all types of heart rhythms. One group will get standard treatment and the physicians will be blinded to the recordings. The other group will be treated by the recording and the information about the amount of time in afib. The purpose of the study is to determine what the true occurrence of afib is for the first year after open heart surgery and to see if knowing this will alter the clinical management of this group of subjects.Currently most subjects are treated without knowing this information and based on that the arrhythmia will no longer happen after the heart is healed or recovered from the surgery. Most medications for controlling the heart rate and rhythm are stopped around 3 months. There is also a tendency to not to use blood thinning medications for the prevention of stroke after this time period. Stroke is one of the major complications from afib. Not all subjects are aware of the irregular heart beats so you can not depend on them to accurately know. They might feel episodes of very fast beating episodes or may become weak and fatigued. Weakness and fatigue are also normal during the first parts of recover from bypass surgery. By documenting the true episodes of afib the investigators can better understand if postoperative afib might need to be treated as a life long issue rather than a transient post operative issue. This treatment might change clinical management and decrease mortality.
The purpose of this prospective study is to evaluate the effect of catheter ablation on incidence, prevalence and disease-severity of migraine in AF patients undergoing ablation, with or without a history of migraine.
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of the THERMOCOOL® SMARTTOUCH™ Catheters with Contact Force Sensing Capability in the treatment of drug refractory symptomatic paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (AF) during standard electrophysiology mapping and RF procedures.
The purpose of this research is to simplify the standard recording system of the heart rhythm. The investigators desire to improve the ease of monitoring the cardiac rhythm for 24 hours. The investigators intent is to use a very small, innovative monitoring patch system that relieves the patient of wearing a cumbersome and uncomfortable recording system. This research trial will carry the title "The Simple ECG Monitoring" for Comparison of a Sternal ECG Recording System with a Standard ECG Recording System for Holter Monitoring. The data from the investigational device is for comparative purposes only. It will not be used by medical personnel for study subject treatment or diagnostic purposes.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the complications of cardioversion of acute (<48 hours duration) atrial fibrillation (AF). Primary Outcome Measures: - Incidence and predictors of thromboembolic complications, especially stroke, and death <31 days after cardioversion of acute AF Secondary Outcome Measures: - Number of therapy non-responder and early recurrence of AF - Bleeding complications during the 31 days follow-up - Hemodynamic complications of cardioversion Estimated Enrollment: 3000 cases Study Start Date: Jun 2011 Estimated Study Completion Date: December 2011
The purpose of this study is to determine whether wireless transmission of invasive arterial blood pressure signal (by HMW 10 Wireless System) from patient to patient's bedside monitor is feasible, safe and as accurate as conventional cable connection.
This non-interventional prospective study is a post-authorization safety study (PASS) of vernakalant conducted to collect information about normal conditions of use and appropriate dosing, and to quantify possible medically significant risks associated with the use of vernakalant in real-world clinical practice.
PURPOSE Physical exercise is beneficial for patients with ischemic heart disease and chronic heart failure, while little is known about the effect in atrial fibrillation (AF). The investigators studied the effect of physical exercise on cardiac output (CO), max. exercise capacity, biomarkers and quality of life (Qol) in patients with AF in a randomised study of physical exercise training three times weekly for twelve weeks. HYPOTHESIS Exercise training improves cardiac output (CO), max. exercise capacity, biomarkers and quality of life (Qol) in patients with AF. METHODS Assessment of exercise capacity, CO, Qol, body composition, six minute walk test and muscular strength was performed before and after 12 weeks. Resting echocardiography was done at baseline. CO was measured using impedance cardiography at rest and during maximal exercise testing on an ergometer bicycle. Body composition, muscular strength and six minutes walking capacity were measured before and after the training period. Qol was evaluated by the use of the standardized validated questionnaires Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHF-Q). Training consisted of aerobic exercise at 70 percent of max. capacity estimated by Borg-scale.