Mount Sinai performs first U.S. commercial procedure with CardioFocus endoscopically guided laser catheter
Mount Sinai Hospital (New York, NY) performed the first commercial U.S. procedure using the HeartLight endoscopically guided laser catheter system from CardioFocus (Marlborough, MA) for treating patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). This procedure marks the initiation of the company's commercialization of the system (which received FDA premarket approval in April 2016) in the large and growing U.S. AF market.
Related: Endoscopically guided laser catheter receives FDA premarket approval for treating atrial fibrillation
The procedure, successfully performed on September 26, 2016, was led by Srinivas R. Dukkipati, MD, Director of the Electrophysiology Lab and Co-director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Services at Mount Sinai, a clinical investigator in the HeartLight pivotal trial, and lead author of the pivotal study results article published in the Journal of The American College of Cardiology (JACC), with support from Vivek Y. Reddy, MD, Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Services for Mount Sinai Hospital and co-principal investigator of the HeartLight trial.
Dukkipati explains that treating paroxysmal AF before it advances to a persistent or permanent state will drastically improve patient long-term outcomes. The HeartLight system approach involves direct visualization, titratable energy, and a compliant balloon design for pulmonary vein isolation, allowing electrophysiologists to see within the heart and visually direct the application of therapeutic laser energy.
For more information, please visit www.cardiofocus.com.