{"id":2792,"date":"2021-12-08T20:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T20:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fusfoundation.org\/?post_type=sw_disease_condition&#038;p=2792"},"modified":"2025-04-09T16:29:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T20:29:19","slug":"atrial-fibrillation","status":"publish","type":"sw_disease_condition","link":"https:\/\/www.fusfoundation.org\/diseases-and-conditions\/atrial-fibrillation\/","title":{"rendered":"Atrial Fibrillation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-focused-ultrasound-therapy\">Focused Ultrasound Therapy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How it Works<\/strong><br>The mechanism of action is to use focused ultrasound to cause thermal destruction of aberrant myocardial conducting tissue, which enables AF to be treated. This thermal destruction can be done percutaneously or at the time of open heart surgery. Additional, early research is looking at using a mechanical (non-thermal) use of focused ultrasound to destroy tissue and treat AF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advantages<\/strong><br>The primary options for treatment of AF include medication and surgical procedures involving a catheter placed in the groin that proceeds intravascularly to ablate areas of the heart. For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications and lower cost.&nbsp;Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and it&nbsp;can be repeated, if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-clinical-trials\">Clinical Trials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There were several clinical trials that have been completed or were suspended for concerns about serious adverse events. At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients. Further research continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click <a href=\"https:\/\/clinicaltrials.gov\/search?cond=Atrial%20Fibrillation&amp;term=focused%20ultrasound&amp;aggFilters=status:not%20rec\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>, it will take you to the latest information available from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>https:\/\/www.clinicaltrials.gov\/<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fusfoundation.org\/the-technology\/research-sites\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>See a list of laboratory research sites ><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-regulatory-approval-and-reimbursement\">Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Focused ultrasound treatment for AF is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-notable-papers\">Notable Papers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Wintrich J, Pavlicek V, Millenaar D, Ukena C.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/34000613\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Mapping of an atrial tachycardia after Epicor high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation: A case report<\/strong><\/a>. J Electrocardiol. 2021 May 4;67:19-22. doi: 10.1016\/j.jelectrocard.2021.04.019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sandoval Z, Castro M, Alirezaie J, Bessi\u00e8re F, Lafon C, Dillenseger JL.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/29992909\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Transesophageal 2D ultrasound to 3D computed tomography registration for the guidance of a cardiac arrhythmia therapy<\/strong><\/a>. Phys Med Biol. 2018 Jul 27;63(15):155007. doi: 10.1088\/1361-6560\/aad29a.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Garg L, Garg J, Gupta N, Shah N, Krishnamoorthy P, Palaniswamy C, Bozorgnia B, Natale A.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/27690340\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Gastrointestinal complications associated with catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation<\/strong><\/a>. Int J Cardiol. 2016 Dec 1;224:424-430. doi: 10.1016\/j.ijcard.2016.09.069.<br><br>Reyes G, Ruyra X, Valderrama F, Jimenez A, Duran D, Perez E, Daroca T, Moya J, Ramirez U, Aldamiz G. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/26006216\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>High intensity focused ultrasound ablation for atrial fibrillation: results from the National Spanish Registry<\/strong><\/a>. Minerva Cardioangiol. 2016 Oct;64(5):501-6.<br><br>She WH, Cheung TT, Jenkins CR, Irwin MG.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/27380753\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Clinical applications of high-intensity focused ultrasound<\/strong><\/a>. Hong Kong Med J. 2016 Aug;22(4):382-92. doi: 10.12809\/hkmj154755.<br><br>Garcia R, Sacher F, Oses P, Derval N, Barandon L, Denis A, Hocini M, Roques X, Ha\u00efssaguerre M, Labrousse L, Ja\u00efs P.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/25381645\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Electrophysiological study 6 months after Epicor\u2122 high-intensity focused ultrasound atrial fibrillation ablation<\/strong><\/a>. J Interv Card Electrophysiol. 2014 Dec;41(3):245-51. doi: 10.1007\/s10840-014-9949-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/?term=%28%22focused+ultrasound%22+OR+HIFU%29+and+%22Atrial+fibrillation%22&amp;sort=date\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Click here\u00a0<\/a>for additional references from PubMed.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"sw_disease_condition_cat":[5],"sw_disease_condition_stage":[20],"class_list":["post-2792","sw_disease_condition","type-sw_disease_condition","status-publish","hentry","sw_disease_condition_cat-cardiovascular"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - 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