The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have granted Johnson & Johnson approval for the first catheters to treat a dangerous heart defect that affect millions of U.S. citizens, reports the Associated Press.
The company’s Navistar Thermocool catheters treat atrial fibrillation (AF). This malady disrupts the normal contraction rate of the heart causing it to beat faster and irregularly.
People with AF are five times more likely to have a stroke; the condition can cause blood clots to develop within patients. These clots can then travel from the heart to the brain provoking an embolic stroke. According to the American Heart Association, AF accounts for about 15 percent of the stroke cases in the nation.
In the U.S. over 2.2 million individuals suffer from this condition. The illness is currently treated with blood thinning drug, and occasionally, open heart surgery. The new J & J product now provides physicians with a third option. The catheters utilize extreme heat to create tiny scars on heart tissue that eliminate the nerve signals that cause irregular contractions.
In studies conducted by the company 62.7 percent of patients treated with the newly developed catheters were free of AF symptoms nine months after beginning the treatment. Patients taking a traditional drug therapy only showed the same progress in 17.2 percent of the cases.
By: Alberto Ramos Cordero
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