MORRISVILLE, N.C., March 12, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EP Lab Digest has published an article that highlights the critical role of comprehensive posterior ablation using the Convergent Procedure in the treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. AF is estimated to affect 5.9 million people in the U.S., with a majority of patients falling into the difficult-to-treat persistent AF population. The physicians highlight the advantages of offering a new treatment alternative, the multidisciplinary Convergent Procedure, to patients who have lived with AF for years.
"With the Convergent Procedure, we now have the 'go-to' procedure for our most challenging patients, the persistent AF patients," said Jonathan S. Steinberg, MD, Director of the Arrhythmia Institute, The Valley Health System of New York and New Jersey in Ridgewood, NJ. "This has been a population that has been difficult to treat with catheters alone. The Convergent Procedure offers an alternative that allows for comprehensive ablation of the posterior left atrium, which we view as a critical component for successful treatment in these long suffering patients. Our initial results are promising, with 90% of patients returning to sinus rhythm; our experience is consistent with other physician studies, and our excitement is in offering a comprehensive approach to patients who may have thought there was no good treatment option available."
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 chest incisions or ports. The endocardial lesions created by an electrophysiologist ensure lesion set completeness, and with specialized EP mapping and diagnostics, the procedure has "checks and balances" to ensure a comprehensive approach.
"This is a collaborative effort where the surgeon and EP work together as a team in a single setting to attain procedure success," said Jason S. Sperling, MD, Subspecialty Director of the Surgical Atrial Fibrillation Program, The Valley Health System of New York and New Jersey, Ridgewood, NJ. "The Convergent Procedure combines the expertise and technologies of both physicians, delivering a potential new standard of care for AF patients. One of the patient advantages is that the less invasive procedure has no chest incisions, which means patients can generally expect a short 2-night hospital stay and a quick recovery."
This publication can be found in the current issue of EP Lab Digest at http://www.eplabdigest.com/issue.
About nContact, Inc.
nContact's mission is to transform the underserved arrhythmia market through the advancement of less invasive ablation alternatives for cardiac arrhythmias. The Company is conducting the CONVERGE IDE Clinical Trial, the first head-to-head superiority study to evaluate the Convergent Procedure to catheter ablation in persistent atrial fibrillation patients. The Company's lead technology, EPi-Sense™ Coagulation System with VisiTrax®, has CE Mark approval in Europe for the coagulation of cardiac tissue in the treatment of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. The EPi-Sense Coagulation System with VisiTrax is indicated for endoscopic coagulation of cardiac tissue in the U.S. nContact was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina, USA.