May 3, 2024- Little has changed in treating Atrial Fibrillation (AF) over the past 15 years – until now. AF is an irregular, often very rapid beating of the heart. Conventional therapy uses a catheter to deliver extreme heat or cryothermy to create lesions in the heart to stop AF. Although somewhat rare, this energy can damage surrounding structures, including the esophagus, leading to complications and even death.
Since late 2023, both Medtronic (PulseSelect™ is a novel procedure called renal denervation) and Boston Scientific (FARAPULSE™) have won FDA approval for their proposed treatment of AF. Johnson and Johnson and Abbott could follow in the market with their own solution1.
In Europe, early users are reportedly paying about double the cost of their current ablation catheters. There are significant advantages to these new treatments in terms of safety and patient care, and significant growth of this category is expected in the next ten years2.