Newswise — University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine experts will present research findings that could come to define new standards of care and management of cardiac arrhythmias at this week's annual conference of the Heart Rhythm Society, the foremost professional society representing heart rhythm specialists throughout the world. These experts will gather in San Francisco to present and discuss the latest advances in cardiac rhythm research, education, policies and standards.
All research results are embargoed until the time they are presented during the conference.
Late Breaking Trials " Effectiveness of Anti-Arrhythmic Medications After Atrial Fibrillation, 11 a.m., Thursday, May 15
Penn electrophysiology specialists will present the findings of a trial examining the efficacy of antiarrhythmic drugs in patients with atrial fibrillation following ablation, a therapy that uses radiofrequency energy to cauterize the heart tissue around each pulmonary vein to keep abnormal electrical signals from reaching the rest of the heart and triggering the faulty rhythm.
Atrial fibrillation, one of the most common abnormal heart rhythms, is increasingly treated with this catheter-based therapy. Doctors routinely prescribe antiarrhythmic drugs to treat the recurrences of rhythm problems patients often experience in the early months following the procedure. But the efficacy of this post-surgery drug treatment protocol has never been studied. Penn's study examines arrhythmia occurrence in two groups of patients " one arm which received arrhythmia drugs following ablation, and another which did not.
Early analysis of the study data revealed significant information that will be presented by Penn investigators and discussed among cardiologists during the Heart Rhythm Society meeting.
Other Penn presentations at the meeting will address atrial fibrillation triggers, advances in cardiac imaging used to aid treatment of heart rhythm problems, and new findings to guide standards of care with implantable cardiac defibrillators and pacemaker technology. For more information, visit http://www.hrsonline.org.
PENN Medicine is a $3.5 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Penn's School of Medicine is currently ranked #4 in the nation in U.S.News & World Report's survey of top research-oriented medical schools; and, according to most recent data from the National Institutes of Health, received over $379 million in NIH research funds in the 2006 fiscal year. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals — its flagship hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, rated one of the nation's "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S.News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center — a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home care and hospice.
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