SAN FRANCISCO -- May 9, 2019 – Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies* today announced that Biosense Webster, Inc.'s QDOT MICRO, a novel catheter that facilitates high power-short duration radiofrequency (RF) ablation, demonstrated safety and efficacy in achieving pulmonary vein isolation in patients with symptomatic drug-refractory paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) in QDOT-FAST,** the first in-human multicenter study of the device. Procedure and fluoroscopy times were also reported to be shorter than ablation with conventional catheters. Reducing use of fluoroscopy alleviates the burden of lead for physicians and staff, and reduces exposure to radiation for patients.

The findings were published today in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology and presented at Heart Rhythm 2019, the Heart Rhythm Society's 40th Annual Heart Rhythm Scientific Sessions, by Vivek Y. Reddy, MD, Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia services for The Mount Sinai Hospital and the Mount Sinai Health System and the Helmsley Trust Professor of Medicine in Cardiac Electrophysiology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. The study was funded by Biosense Webster.

QDOT MICRO, which is only available for investigational use in the U.S. and Europe, is the first irrigated contact force catheter to deliver up to 90 watts of RF power in up to four seconds in a temperature-controlled ablation mode. The current practice of RF ablation with irrigated catheters involves the delivery of moderate power (20 to 40 watts) for a relatively long duration (20 to 40 seconds).[1]
In the three-month multicenter prospective study, researchers reported pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) was successful in all 52 paroxysmal AF patients treated with a total average procedure time of 105.2 minutes. PVI was achieved in 44.3 minutes and most fluoroscopy times were between 2.5 and 5.7 minutes. Primary adverse events occurred in 3.8 percent of patients (1 pseudoaneurysm, 1 asymptomatic thromboembolism) and one non-serious adverse event (esophageal ulcer) was device/procedure related.

"The results are very promising and may lead to better patient outcomes and improved procedural efficiencies, including short overall procedure and fluoroscopy times," said Dr. Reddy,*** study co-author. "Additional prospective studies are needed to assess for the durability of the lesion set and long-term freedom from recurrent atrial arrhythmias."

"We continue to study QDOT MICRO and generate the evidence necessary to offer a next generation device that we expect to be groundbreaking for catheter ablation procedures," said Uri Yaron, Worldwide President of Biosense Webster. "This study is one of many that we hope elevates the standard of care for atrial fibrillation patients throughout the world."

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