ACC 2023 Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

The biggest cardiology tech stories from ACC.23

Medtronic, Abbott, iRhythm and more presented new data at a major cardiology conference, ACC.23. [Images courtesy of Medtronic, Abbott and iRhythm] Major medtech players presented a range of intriguing studies at a gathering of some of the biggest names in the cardiology tech space.

Some of the hottest topics were covered this past week at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together With the World Congress of Cardiology (ACC.23/WCC) in New Orleans.

Ablation, cardiac implants, monitors and imaging technology represented a handful of the technologies on display. Medtronic, Abbott, Boston Scientific, Edwards and more offered new data on their innovative technologies in these areas.

Here are some of the biggest stories that came out of the cardiology conference.

Excitement builds around using pulsed-field ablation to treat AFib

Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s Biosense Webster all released new…

Biosense Webster marks first cases with dual energy ablation tech

The Thermocool SmartTouch SF ablation catheter [Image courtesy of J&J’s Biosense Webster]Biosense Webster today announced the first cases with its investigational Thermocool SmartTouch SF dual energy catheter for treating AFib.

The system enables doctors performing an ablation to toggle between two types of energy: pulsed-field and radiofrequency. It appears to be the Johnson & Johnson MedTech subsidiary’s answer to the dual energy ablation tech coming out of Affera, which competitor Medtronic acquired for $1 billion last year.

Dr. Tom De Potter performed the first procedure with Thermocool SmartTouch at OLV Hospital in Aalst, Belgium. Biosense Webster said Dr. Mattias Duytschaever of AZ Sint-Jan Brugge Oostende AV performed several additional cases. The Brugge, Belgium, hospital is also taking part in the clinical trial.

“While radiofrequency ablation has decades of safety and efficacy data to support it, pulse field ablation is a novel…

Real-world study backs iRhythm Zio XT

iRhythm’s Zio XT cardiac monitor. [Image from iRhythm]iRhythm Technologies (Nasdaq:IRTC) today announced findings supporting its Zio XT wearable heart monitoring technology.

San Francisco-based iRhythm presented multiple new studies at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together With the World Congress of Cardiology (ACC.23/WCC).

The Camelot study compared effectiveness of ambulatory monitors for arrhythmia diagnosis. It demonstrated that long-term continuous monitoring with iRhythm Zio XT is associated with the highest diagnostic yield and fastest time to clinical diagnosis compared to all other ambulatory cardiac monitors (ACMs) when looking at specified arrhythmias.

Additionally, Zio XT demonstrated the lowest likelihood of retesting compared to all other ACMs. It also recorded the lowest acute healthcare resource utilization compared to all other ACMs.

Camelot used real-world Medicare data. It sought to evaluate the yi…

Philips presents positive study results for its cardiology solutions

Philips (NYSE:PHG) today announced various clinical study results validating its innovations in cardiac and cardiovascular care.

Amsterdam-based Philips presented its findings at ACC.23/WCC in New Orleans. Results included trends with intravascular imaging, early cardiac implant removal and intracardiac echocardiography catheters.

“To make a real difference to patients, it is vitally important that medical innovations are validated in real-life clinical practice so that clinician decision-making and guideline setting are firmly evidence-based. At Philips, we are deeply committed to making sure this is the case,” said Dr. Atul Gupta, CMO for image-guided therapy at Philips. “The positive clinical study results announced today are further evidence of how we are continuously working with our clinical partners to co-create new innovations and demonstrate how they improve outcomes for patients.”

Philips evaluates intravascular imaging during percutaneous coronar…

Edwards Lifesciences finds low re-intervention rates at 10 years for TAVR patients

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) today announced data supporting transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) at 10 years.

An analysis of Medicare data showed a low rate of re-intervention after TAVR out to 10 years. Dr. Suzanne Baron, a Boston-based interventional and structural cardiologist, led the analysis. Edwards presented results at the American College of Cardiology ACC.23/WCC.

Of 230,644 patients treated with transfemoral and transapical TAVR between 2011 and 2021, only 1,880 underwent valvular re-intervention. This translated to a 1.63% rate of re-intervention overall when considering the competing risk of death.

Edwards also said it observed the apparent decrease of re-intervention rates with the introduction of next-generation TAVR technologies.

“The observed, sustained low re-intervention rates as well as the decrease in re-interventions with advanced technology are particularly impactful and provide valuable input into the decis…

Medtronic touts 3-year data for Evolut TAVR

The CoreValve Evolut TAVR implant. [Image courtesy of Medtronic]Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) announced three-year data supporting its Evolut transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system.

Findings from the Evolut Low-Risk trial demonstrated numerically better clinical outcomes for the Evolut TAVR system. It also showed significantly better hemodynamic valve performance compared to surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). The study evaluated a low-risk aortic stenosis (AS) patient population.

Medtronic presented data at the American College of Cardiology’s 72nd Annual Scientific Session Together with World Heart Federation’s World Congress of Cardiology. Results were published simultaneously in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

In a news release, Dr. John Forrest of the Yale School of Medicine called the need to understand the durability of TAVR “critical.”

“With an increasing number of younger, low-risk patients undergoin…

Abbott reports positive study results for MitraClip, TriClip heart valve repair devices

Abbott’s MitraClip (left) and TriClip (right) devices. [Images from Abbott]Abbott (NYSE:ABT) announced late-breaking data supporting both its MitraClip and TriClip heart valve repair devices.

Five-year data from the COAPT trial demonstrated the safety and efficacy of MitraClip for people with mitral regurgitation (MR).

Data also showed the superiority of the TriClip transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) system. The Triluminate pivotal study evaluated TriClip against medical therapy in patients with tricuspid regurgitation (TR).

Abbott presented results at the American College of Cardiology’s 72nd Annual Scientific Session together with the World Congress of Cardiology. The event took place in New Orleans. Results for both trials published simultaneously in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Abbott proves MitraClip’s safety and efficacy

Five-year COAPT results showed that MitraClip can cut the rate of hospitalizations while impr…

Medtronic pulsed-field ablation system exceeds safety goal in study

The PulseSelect for pulsed-field ablation. [Image courtesy of MedtronicMedtronic (NYSE:MDT) announced today that its PulseSelect pulsed-field ablation (PFA) system exceeded its safety performance goal in a clinical trial.

PulseSelect registered an adverse event rate of 0.7%. Medtronic said that marks one of the lowest adverse event rates of any previous FDA investigational device exemption (IDE) trial for AFib ablation or any multi-center PFA study.

The Pulsed AF trial exceeded the threshold for its efficacy performance goal, too. It demonstrated further clinical success through freedom from recurrence of any symptomatic atrial arrhythmias. That totaled at least 80% for each patient cohort.

Medtronic presented findings from Pulsed AF today at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session Together with the World Congress of Cardiology (ACC.23/WCC). It simultaneously published results in Circulation.

The Pulsed AF trial evaluates…