New heart flutter treatment works better-US study

CHICAGO, Nov 16 (Reuters) A new treatment for atrial fibrillation, or heart flutter, helps halt the irregular heartbeat more often than an older procedure, researchers said.

Doctors are hunting for better ways to treat atrial fibrillation, the most common form of unusual heart rhythm. About 2.2 million Americans suffer from the condition, marked by shortness of breath and fainting.

It can be treated with drugs to control symptoms but often leads to graver problems like stroke and heart failure.

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic studied a new procedure called pulmonary vein ablation that involves inserting a catheter into the heart to deliver radio frequency energy to the pulmonary vein to correct faulty electrical waves.

This technique helped eliminate the condition in 89 per cent of patients, compared with 74 per cent of patients getting an older treatment.

The findings were highlighted by researchers at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association yesterday, taking place in Chicago.

The older procedure, called ablation with pacing, involves creating a small patch of scar tissue to block faulty signals, but leaves a patient dependent on a pacemaker.

The study looked at 71 patients with heart failure, a weak heart muscle that leads to fluid build-up in the lungs, and atrial fibrillation -- a particularly difficult group to treat because the two conditions often worsen each other.

''Nobody knows what to do with people who have heart failure and atrial fibrillation,'' Jennifer Cummings, director of electrophysiology research at the Cleveland Clinic and co-author of the study, said. The older procedure ''keeps the heart from going too fast, while the newer procedure keeps the heart from going too fast by curing the cause.'' The six-month trial found that patients getting the newer procedure did better in a six-minute walk test and their hearts had improved pumping ability.

Unrestricted grants to the Cleveland Clinic from St Jude Medical Inc, which sells catheters and implantable defibrillators and Siemens AG, which sells ultrasound equipment, paid for the study.

About 15 per cent of strokes occur in patients with atrial fibrillation, according to the heart association. People with atrial fibrillation are at risk for blood clots and worsening heart failure.

REUTERS DKA BST1027