Medtronic commences Reveal AF clinical trial

Medtronic has announced the commencement of a new trial that uses continuous cardiac monitoring to evaluate the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) among high-risk patients, while identifying key patient predictors for the detection of the disease.

The first patient implant has been carried out as part of the Reveal AF trial, which will utilise the Reveal Insertable Cardiac Monitor to assess how often patients experience AF lasting six minutes or more.

It will evaluate how physicians manage patients once the condition has been diagnosed and will also look at ways of detecting the disease at the earliest possible juncture.

Around 400 patients from approximately 60 centers in the US and Europe will receive Reveal implants as part of the trial and will be followed for a minimum of 18 months to monitor their conditions.

Pat Mackin, president of the cardiac rhythm disease management business and senior vice-president at Medtronic, said: "Through this study, Medtronic intends to show the clinical value of ICMs in detecting atrial fibrillation so that early-stage therapeutic decisions can be made to improve each patient's quality of life."

This comes after the company last week launched FlexCath Advance, a second-generation sheath that works with its Arctic Front Advance cryoballoon system.