CardioFocus, the developer of the HeartLight Endoscopic Ablation System (EAS) for the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), has announced that the HeartLight EAS is now available in the UK, with the first AF patients treated at The Heart Hospital in London in August.
The University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust expects the system to be used in up to half of the 400 AF ablation procedures performed at the hospital every year. The catheter ablation technology incorporates an illuminating endoscope to provide physicians with direct visualisation within a beating heart, in real-time and without radiation. It also features a compliant, dynamically adjustable balloon catheter for improved contact with the pulmonary vein ostium and utilises laser energy for more efficient, precise ablation. Recent data demonstrated that approximately 86% of PVs remained persistently isolated after three months following a single procedure with the system, with 65% of patients achieving durable freedom from AF.
