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AF ablation Atrial fibrillation

Day 3 Boston AF Symposium: More rough notes.

Today is the third and final day of the Boston AF symposium. (My editorial comments in italics.) Dr Hugh Caulkins started the day by reviewing the major clinical trials of AF ablation. A lot of these I have written about previously. One of the most pivotal trials to mention is CABANA. Here, investigators are enrolling […]

Categories
AF ablation Atrial fibrillation

Day 2 Boston AF symposium: Late morning and afternoon notes:

The late-morning sessions addressed the possible mechanism(s) of AF. Many ask what causes AF. The assumption holds that if we can ablate AF, we must know what causes it. This would not be true. One line of thinking holds that disorganized electrical conduction throughout the atria plays an important role–not just focal drivers and initiators […]

Categories
AF ablation Atrial fibrillation

Day 2 at Boston AF symposium: Morning notes

Dr. Frank Marchlinski moderated the first sessions: The global topic involved pulmonary vein reconnections. This is the bane of AF ablation. Our inability to broach the 80% success rates has most to do with the fact that PVs don’t stay isolated. Everyone wants to enhance the durability of PV isolation. Nassir Marrouche spoke about what […]

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Atrial fibrillation

Live Blog–Boston AF symposium

I’ve never tried this before: giving some brief snips of an AF symposium, on the fly.  Maybe doing so will help me remember. My comments are in italics. Little proofreads–consider these quick notes. First talk: Dr Jalife. Molecular mechanisms AF:  Think fibrosis, or the infiltration of scar tissue within the muscle of the heart. This […]