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Medtronic announced the first procedures in the investigational device exemption pivotal trial to evaluate the PulseSelect Pulsed Field Ablation System, a novel technology that uses pulsed electric fields to treat atrial fibrillation. The first procedure in the PULSED AF pivotal trial was performed this week at Southcoast Health; the second procedure was also performed at Southcoast Health. Developed exclusively at Medtronic, the PulseSelect System delivers pulsed electric fields through an ablation catheter designed specifically to interrupt irregular electrical pathways in the heart that trigger atrial fibrillation. The PULSED AF trial is a clinical trial that will enroll up to 500 patients who will be treated with the PulseSelect System designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the PulseSelect System for the treatment of AF in adult patients with a history of drug refractory, recurrent and symptomatic paroxysmal or persistent AF.

Medtronic announced new results from the REVERSE trial, evaluating outcomes of cardiac resynchronization therapy, or CRT, for patients with mild heart failure, or HF. This new analysis of the REVERSE clinical trial shows that patients whose heart failure stabilizes with CRT live longer, similar to patients whose condition improves with CRT, said the company, which notes that the manuscript was recently published in the "Journal of American College of Cardiology: Clinical Electrophysiology." Rob Kowal, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of Cardiac Rhythm Management, which is reported as part of the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic, said: "REVERSE reinforces the strong clinical evidence supporting CRT, and the value of CRT as an option to slow the progression of this debilitating disease. Time and again, the landmark CRT trials have demonstrated a range of patient stabilization or improvement with the application of cardiac resynchronization therapy."