The Maintenance of Human Atrial Fibrillation

Completed

Conditions studied: Atrial Fibrillation, Arrhythmias, Cardiac

In brief

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent heart rhythm disorder in the United States, affecting 2.5 million individuals in whom it may cause stroke, palpitations, heart failure, and even death. Unfortunately, therapy for AF is limited. Anti-arrhythmic or rate-controlling drugs are poorly tolerated, with frequent side effects and do not reduce stroke risk. Ablation is an emerging, minimally invasive therapy that has attracted considerable attention because it may eliminate AF. Unfortunately, AF ablation is technically challenging, with a success of only 50-70% (versus \>90% for other arrhythmias) and serious risks. A major cause of these limitations is that the mechanisms for human AF are not known and thus ablation cannot be directed to them. As a result, AF ablation is empiric and results in extensive destruction of the atrium. This project will perform research to better understand AF and determine if abnormal activity in small regions or more widespread regions of the heart cause AF. By performing these studies in patients during clinical procedures, this project may lead to a paradigm shift in the understanding and treatment of AF.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT01248156
Run by
University of California, San Diego
People needed
5
Starts
2010-12-01
Expected to finish
2014-06-01
Last updated by the study team
2019-08-15

Who can join

Age: 21 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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