St Jude Medical, a global medical device company, has presented the results of the ASymptomatic AF and Stroke Evaluation in Pacemaker Patients and the AF Reduction Atrial Pacing Trial (ASSERT), conducted by the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences in Hamilton, Canada.
ASSERT trial was a cohort study designed to determine whether the detection of arrhythmias using pacemaker-based diagnostics predicts an increased risk of stroke in elderly, hypertensive patients without any history of AF.
St Jude Medical said that the trial demonstrated that pacemaker patients without history of atrial tachycardia (AT) or atrial fibrillation (AF) who have device-detected arrhythmias are approximately 2.5 times more likely to have a stroke than patients who don’t have device-detected arrhythmias.
The technologies such as the AT/AF diagnostic data and alerts available in St Jude Medical implantable devices, including the Accent pacemaker and Fortify ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator), via the Merlin.net remote monitoring system, allow physicians and patients to be notified whenever a patient experiences atrial arrhythmias abnormal heartbeats in the heart’s upper chambers such as AT or AF.
St Jude Medical Cardiac Rhythm Management Division chief medical officer and Research and Clinical Affairs senior vice president Mark Carlson said that these results further demonstrate the value of the arrhythmia monitoring algorithms and alerts offered in St Jude Medical pacemakers and implantable defibrillators.