Medtronic has reported positive results from the real-world analysis of its Reactive ATP therapy to treat atrial fibrillation (AF) patients implanted with cardiac devices.
The data from the study of approximately 8,800 patients showed that Reactive ATP slowed the progression of AF, which is an unusually fast or quivering rhythm that starts in the heart's upper chambers (atria).
Reactive ATP is a type of atrial ATP being developed to terminate atrial tachyarrhythmias at onset and after a change in rate or regularity.
The painless pacing therapy is present exclusively on the firm’s pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) devices.
The ATP allows treatment of the tachyarrhythmias when they spontaneously organise or slow down, and enables delivery of several programmed atrial ATP therapies during an episode.
The therapy repeatedly sends pacing pulses to the atria during abnormally fast rhythms to restore the normal beat of the heart and slow the progression of the condition.
The real-world retrospective analysis included pacemaker, ICD and CRT device data from the patients who were followed by the Medtronic CareLink remote monitoring system.
Medtronic Cardiac Rhythm and Heart Failure division chief medical officer and vice-president Dr Rob Kowal said: "Physicians have been asking how the CareLink Network data can be leveraged to gain real-world insights into the benefits of our therapies.
"This study does exactly that. It helps us understand how Reactive ATP impacts the burden of persistent atrial fibrillation in a larger and more varied group of patients than we might normally be able to study within the constraints of a controlled trial."
When compared to a matched control group, Reactive ATP therapy demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in AF events and a 38% decrease in persistent AF events, irrespective of patient age, sex and device type.
Based on the randomised, controlled MINERVA trial of Reactive ATP, the analysis additionally indicated a significant decrease in cardioversions, visits to emergency departments, and hospitalisations due to AF.
