The role of right atrial ectopy triggering ganglionated plexuses in AF
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the role of right atrial ectopy-triggering ganglionated plexuses in atrial fibrillation
IRAS ID
314366
Contact name
Prapa Kanagaratnam
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common rhythm disturbance of the heart. It can affect people of any age but usually happens as we get older. It can cause palpitations, breathlessness, lethargy, and fainting attacks. It is also associated with an increased risk of strokes.
The best treatment for it at the moment involves burning or freezing (ablation) the heart muscle in a part of the heart called the left atrium. The ablation injures the heart muscle around the so-called pulmonary veins and the procedure is called a 'pulmonary vein isolation'. This procedure work in about 60% of people.
We have found that there are nerve endings in the heart that also cause AF and have shown that ablating these nerve endings also prevents AF. These Nerve endings are known as ganglionated plexuses (GPs).We would now like to perform a trial in people who still have AF after the usual pulmonary vein procedure. We hope that ablating the nerve endings that cause AF (GPs), we will stop their AF coming back. We will compare this procedure to the normal approach of doing the pulmonary vein isolation again
REC name
London - Harrow Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0747
Date of REC Opinion
28 Nov 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion