Cryoablation to Treat Atrial Flutter

A newly initiated clinical trial is the first trial of a cryoablation system for the treatment of atrial flutter, a leading cause of hospitalization due to rapid heart rhythm.

Atrial flutter is created by abnormal electrical signals in the right atrium of the heart causing the heart to beat abnormally fast, leading to shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, and fainting. The purpose of the trial is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Cardiac Cryoablation System of CryoCor, Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA) to treat this condition.

The system is a minimally invasive catheter-based device used by a cardiologist to block conduction of the aberrant signals within the heart. A refrigerant is delivered to the tip of the intravascular catheter, which once inside the heart can achieve temperatures below minus 800oC to selectively inactivate or isolate arrhythmia-inducing tissue. In an earlier feasibility study, the system successfully treated 48 patients with atrial flutter.

"Our studies in Europe and the U.S. have shown that our novel cryoablation system is able to cure atrial flutter in most patients without the pain inflicted by heat-based ablation devices,” noted Gregory M. Ayers, M.D., Ph.D., founder, president, and CEO of CryoCor.




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