Cryoballoon ablation of pulmonary veins for persistent atrial fibrillation: Results from the multicenter STOP Persistent AF trial.

Background: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is the cornerstone of catheter ablation to treat patients with symptomatic drug-refractory atrial fibrillation (AF).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of PVI using the cryoballoon catheter to treat patients with persistent AF.

Methods: STOP Persistent AF (ClinicalTrials.

The diagnosis of cardiac arrhythmias: a prospective multi-center randomized study comparing mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry versus standard loop event monitoring.

Introduction: Ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring systems are frequently used in the outpatient evaluation of symptoms suggestive of a cardiac arrhythmia; however, they have a low yield in the identification of clinically significant but infrequent, brief, and/or intermittently symptomatic arrhythmias. The purpose of this study was to compare the relative value of a mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry system (MCOT) with a patient-activated external looping event monitor (LOOP) for symptoms thought to be due to an arrhythmia.

Methods And Results: The study was a 17-center prospective clinical trial with patients randomized to either LOOP or MCOT for up to 30 days.

First experience with a Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry (MCOT) system for the diagnosis and management of cardiac arrhythmia.

Recently, a mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry (MCOT) system has become available that monitors the electrocardiogram continuously, recognizes arrhythmias automatically, and transmits abnormal rhythms instantaneously. MCOT does not require activation by the patient. We report data from the first 100 consecutive patients monitored by this new technology.