York County Medicine Fall 2020 - 16

YORKCOMEDSOC.ORG
FEATURE:
UPMC Heart and Vascular
Institute Is First in Pennsylvania
to Use Breakthrough System
for Atrial Fibrillation
HARRISBURG, Pa, April 13, 2021 - UPMC Heart and
Vascular Institute (HVI) researchers today announced that the
first patient was treated in a clinical trial at UPMC Pinnacle
Harrisburg to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new
system for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF).
The ADVENT Trial is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Investigational Device Exemption pivotal trial to evaluate the
safety and effectiveness of its Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) system
for the treatment of AF.
" The Pulsed Field Ablation system
holds the promise of a safer, more targeted
system of ablation for treating AF, " said
Chimnay P. Patel, M.D., medical director,
electrophysiology, UPMC HVI, and the
trial's principal investigator. " If successful,
this clinical trial may represent a huge
leap forward in how we treat patients with
atrial fibrillation. "
AF is a heart rhythm disorder that
affects nearly 6 million Americans and makes
them five times more likely to have a stroke
than individuals with a regular heartbeat.
Catheter ablation is emerging as one of the
preferred treatment options for symptomatic
paroxysmal AF.
" The ADVENT Trial is uniquely
positioned to change our field, " said Michael
16 York County Medicine | SUMMER 2021
Link, M.D., cardiac electrophysiologist, UPMC HVI, and
the trial's co-investigator. " We feel privileged to be part of this
landmark trial that may provide an effective and safer way of
treating paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. "
Ablation is a non-surgical procedure used to correct certain
heart rhythm abnormalities such as AF. During an ablation
procedure, a thin, flexible tube called a catheter is guided to the
interior of the heart from the patient's groin. Traditionally, the
tip of an ablation catheter generates extreme temperatures-
hot or cold-to eliminate the targeted heart tissue associated
with irregular heartbeats. The PFA system, however, relies on
non-thermal electric fields that are tissue selective. That is, PFA
selectively ablates heart tissue without affecting other critical
surrounding structures such as the esophagus or major nerves-
an unfortunate potential downside of standard thermal ablation
procedures. Based on European clinical trials, these electric fields
have proven very effective in durably " silencing " abnormal heart
signals, while reducing the risk of damage to other nearby tissues.
" UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute continues to seek
new and unique therapies to address the
cardiovascular needs of our patients, "
said Mubashir Mumtaz, M.D., F.A.C.S.,
F.A.C.C., chief of cardiothoracic surgery
and surgical director of structural heart,
UPMC HVI. " Participation in this clinical
trial is another example of how UPMC
Pinnacle delivers world-class cardiac care
right here in central Pennsylvania. "
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York County Medicine Fall 2020

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