Medtronics a-fib settings

This was on a previous post on this site. Another member posted the web address of the announcement from Medtronics. Can't find the post. I didn't make this up.

Took the corresponding printout to my cardiologist in December 2013. He said not FDA approved. Gone through first set of trials but not second. If he's wrong, would like to know it.

It's AdaptivCRT on the Medtronics site.

http://newsroom.medtronic.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251324&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1856936&highlight=

Hope this helps clear up the discussion about the Medtronics a-fib settings.

Theknotguy

5 Comments

It seems..

by Duke999 - 2014-01-22 02:01:58

It seems to me that this feature for the Medtronic AdaptivCRT CRT-D is similar to the Atrial Preference Pacing for regular pacemaker which I mentioned before. If you have the latest pacemaker from Medtronic, you might consider asking your EP about the APP feature to control your Afib. It is currently available and being used. No need to wait around for FDA approval thing you're talking about. Like I said before, I don't know how effective it is. From my experience, I can tell you at times when an episode (Afib or arrythmia) kicked me, it doesn't last long, perhaps 15 to 20 minutes. I don't know for sure if it's due to the APP therapy that helped me or it's just simply my heart recover on its own. Now, not only Medtronic has this feature, but other brands as well. They all use the similar algorithm which is quite complex to understand. I guess if you have a scientific background, you might understand how that works. I wish you well. And thank you for sharing that link.

Duke

Medtronic

by golden_snitch - 2014-01-22 03:01:13

Hi!

I believe it was me who posted about these new Medtronic features before.

I asked a Medtronic rep about these new features, and he said that apart from the "reactive ATP" for atrial tachyarrhythmias, the features are not new, but the combination of MVP, reactive ATP, and some other features for atrial tachyarrhythmias is new. So, most of it is FDA approved, except for reactive ATP. He also said that ATP will only work for atrial flutter, it won't pace you out of atrial fibrillation.

All these features can help with Afib only indirectly as they do reduce events that lead to atrial fibrillation, such as a lot of ventricular pacing, PAC occurence, atrial flutter. They don't actually do anything while you are having an Afib episode; they work before you go into Afib, and in quite a few cases this seems to have really helped to reduce Afib occurence.

If the Medtronic Advisa is FDA approved, so are all of its functions. There are no Advisa models that do not have reactive ATP and all that stuff.

My EP and I decided that I won't need these features. EP also said that they probably are "nice to haves", not "must haves", and that one should keep in mind that "nice to haves" often use quite a lot of battery.

Inga

Here's more about this algorithm

by Duke999 - 2014-01-22 03:01:36

If you want to read more about this pacing algorithm to assist with reducing or preventing episodes of arrythmia or Afib, here's 1 link for you.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1513529/

And here's the link to Medtronic APP (Atrial Preference Pacing) feature

http://www.medtronicfeatures.com/browse-features/all/CDF_DF_ATRIAL-PACING

If any of the members have any experience or comments about this setting, I would love to hear from you. Thank you.

Duke

sdgasf

by boxxed - 2014-01-22 09:01:17

I'm not a MDT Rep, but I don't think this is meant to specifically "treat" AF. Alot of CRT's are static in their settings and don't minute to minute/day by day. There's a 30% non-responder rate for people who by all indications should have improved with a CRT Device.

Device companies are moving towards a "smart" and dynamic CRT system, like this from MDT and SonaR from Sorin.

My interpretation of this is that this is meant to make current CRT technology much more effective, which will help more patients with heart failure, which will lower incidence of AF.

Adaptive CRT/ Reactive ATP

by golden_snitch - 2014-01-23 02:01:45

Hi!

The "AdaptiveCRT" feature is something different; "reactive ATP" is one of the features that I was posting about in late November (and that you, Theknotguy, were referring to):

http://newsroom.medtronic.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251324&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1877867&highlight=

So, you probably mixed that up. Nevertheless, AdapativeCRT is interesting, too.

Inga

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