Drug Therapy

Despite growing understanding of mechanisms underlying initiation and maintenance of AF, the choice of rhythm control therapy for AF remains empirical. The choice of antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) is based mostly on their safety profile rather than predictors of clinical effect. AFR, being a marker of atrial remodeling, offers promising possibilities in prediction of clinical effect that is available bedside and maybe used for therapy guidance. Higher AFR prior to initiation of antiarrhythmic therapy is commonly associated with more advanced disease process and lower chances for success. In addition to the AFR per se, the new technology allows bedside AFR monitoring during initiation of treatment. Administration of AAD commonly results in reduction of AFR prior to conversion to sinus rhythm. Even when cardioversion is not acheived, tracking of AFR in response to AAD administration provides valuable information in regard to the suitability of the chosen AAD dose for the individual patient characteristics.

Therefore, AFRtracker technology provides a novel approach in assessment of AF substrate properties and prediction of intervention effect that can be considered not only for clinical use but also assist in optimization of clinical research. Information that until recently was only available in EP lab can be obtained in a large scale fashion using surface ECG and provide new insights in AAD effect beyond the cardioversion endpoint.

Please click here to follow an example showing how trending of AFR can be used to support drug therapy evaluation for AF patients.