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AF Trial to Compare Catheter Ablation With Drugs

by Lynn Shapiro, Writer | June 16, 2009
* Atrial fibrillation has a large impact on a patient's quality of life and on health care costs.

"While prior trials have investigated the effectiveness of ablation in treating AF, their value in guiding the treatment of patients is limited by the small size of the studies, relatively short follow-up periods, and the exclusion of older patients with more long-standing AF as well as underlying disease. CABANA will include these patients and follow them for a much longer time period to more clearly define optimal therapy for AF," Dr. Packer says. "We believe that CABANA will be a landmark trial that will guide therapy in the atrial fibrillation arena for years to come."

In atrial fibrillation, the heart's two upper chambers beat irregularly and out of coordination with the two lower chambers. The resulting irregular and often rapid heart rate can lead to poor blood flow to the body. A person can experience symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath and fatigue, and may be at an increased risk of stroke. Treatment focuses on preventing stroke through the use of blood thinners or aspirin and controlling symptoms with medications or invasive procedures.

Before these grants were awarded, Mayo Clinic led a 10-center, 60-patient pilot study. Those results will be announced later this summer.

The CABANA Trial will be conducted as a collaboration between the Heart Rhythm Service and Biomedical Imaging Resource Center at Mayo Clinic, Duke Clinical Research Institute, and CABANA investigators from the 140 centers around the world.

Mayo Clinic and Drs. Packer and Robb have a financial interest in a mapping technology that may or may not be used in this research. In accordance with the Bayh-Dole Act, this technology has been licensed to St. Jude Medical and Mayo Clinic, and Drs. Packer and Robb have received annual royalties greater than $10,000, the federal threshold for significant financial interest.

Mayo Clinic and Dr. Robb also have a financial interest in Analyze-AVW technology that will be used to analyze some of the heart images in this research. In accordance with the Bayh-Dole Act, this technology has been licensed to commercial entities, and both Mayo Clinic and Dr. Robb have received royalties greater than $10,000, the federal threshold for significant financial interest. In addition, Mayo Clinic holds an equity position in the company to which the AVW technology has been licensed.

Source: Mayo Clinic

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