Letter from the Advisory Board

Dear Practitioner,

We are pleased to share with you this special issue of ESC Congress in Review 2017 with a focus on arrhythmias from presentations at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2017 held in Barcelona, Spain.

The featured article takes a closer look at current and evolving treatments for atrial fibrillation (AF): catheter ablation, including a hybrid approach that combines the strengths and minimises the limitations of either surgical or catheter ablation alone, pulmonary vein isolation, and antiarrhythmic drug therapy.

Some of the interesting highlights in this special report include results from the CASTLE-AF trial, the first trial designed to study the effectiveness of catheter ablation in improving mortality as well as heart failure (HF) progression in patients with HF and AF compared with standard care according to the ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 Guidelines for the Management of Patients with AF. Catheter ablation of AF significantly reduced the primary endpoint of mortality and HF hospitalisation compared with conventional treatment; patients receiving catheter ablation were 38% less likely to experience the primary endpoint, 47% less likely to die, and 44% less likely to be hospitalised with worsening HF.

Results of the IMPACT-AF study indicated that a customised, multilevel educational intervention program, with appropriate monitoring and follow-up, can increase the use of oral anticoagulants (OAC) in patients with AF. The educational component of the study targeted the patient and their family as well as healthcare providers, monitoring and feedback identified patients not being treated with OAC and reviewed opportunities for them to start/restart medication and identified patients who were at high risk for not staying on medications and intervened to prevent discontinuation —the result was a 9.1% absolute greater increase in OAC use in the intervention group at 12 months.

In addition to the results from clinical trials and registry updates, you will also find articles that reflect on 4 decades of ICD therapy and indications for 2017, as well as the use of anticoagulant therapy for cardioversion of AF.

We hope that you find the articles and practical perspectives that are contained in this special focused edition of ESC Congress 2017 in Review – Focus on Arrhythmias helpful in integrating this new information into your clinical practice.

 

Robert P. Giugliano, MD, SM
Cardiovascular Division Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Associate Professor in Medicine Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA, USA

Marc P. Bonaca, MD, MPH
Cardiovascular Division Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Assistant Professor in Medicine Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Jacob A. Udell, MD, MPH
Cardiovascular Division Women’s College Hospital
Toronto General Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Nihar R. Desai, MD, MPH
Cardiovascular Division Yale-New Haven Hospital
Assistant Professor Medicine Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Matthew Cavender, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

Erin A. Bohula May, MD, PhD
Cardiovascular Division Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Instructor in Medicine Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Giulia Magnani, MD, PhD
Cardiovascular Division Parma University Hospital
University of Parma, Parma, Italy

Carlos Aguiar, MD, FESC
Department of Cardiology
Hospital de Santa Cruz
Carnaxide, Portugal

Jan Steffel, MD, FESC, FHRS
Department of Cardiology
University Heart Center Zurich
University Hospital Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland



Posted on 30 August 201717 March 2021