MORRISVILLE, N.C., June 27, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the recent Masters Series presentations at the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (ISMICS), Michael Zembala, MD, PhD, Director of Arrhythmia Surgery at Siliesian Center for Heart Diseases in Zabrze, Poland, reported on his experience with the Convergent Procedure, a multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of atrial fibrillation. Dr. Zembala reported on 65 patients, all of whom had persistent AF, of which 65% were longstanding persistent patients. The results demonstrated that 80% of patients were in normal sinus rhythm.
"There are two important takeaways from the data. The first is this study was performed on a very difficult-to-treat patient population and second, the results have remained consistent over 24 months," stated Dr. Zembala. "The primary advantage of the Convergent Procedure is that it combines the best technologies and techniques of two disciplines and represents a comprehensive approach to effectively address the tougher patient populations who have historically had few treatment options. It is the combined approach that is proving the most effective treatment alternative for this targeted patient population in our institution. Our expert electrophysiology partners ensure lesion pattern completeness through endocardial ablation, mapping and diagnostics, all of which are critical to the procedure's success and predicting patient outcome."
The multidisciplinary Convergent Procedure is performed as a single procedure in the electrophysiology lab. The epicardial lesions are created first under direct endoscopic visualization by a surgeon, through a 2 cm incision in the abdomen, with no need for chest incisions or ports. The endocardial lesions created by an electrophysiologist help confirm lesion set completeness through specialized EP diagnostics, which also predict patient outcomes.
"The Convergent Procedure represents a cooperative approach between surgery and cardiology for an improved result. It's a heart team approach and it is replicable, as our results in Poland mirror the results reported across other sites in the U.S. and Europe," continued Dr. Zembala.
About nContact, Inc.
nContact's mission is to transform the underserved arrhythmia market through the advancement of less invasive, more efficacious ablation alternatives for cardiac arrhythmias. The Company's lead technologies, EPi-Sense® and Numeris® Coagulation Systems with VisiTrax,® have CE Mark approval in Europe for the coagulation of cardiac tissue in the treatment of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. The EPi-Sense and Numeris Coagulation Systems with VisiTrax are indicated for endoscopic coagulation of cardiac tissue in the U.S. nContact was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina, USA.