Few disease states in the world of cardiology have been studied as persistently as atrial fibrillation (AF), but new study data presented in Chicago at the 2022 scientific sessions of the American Heart Association seem to advance the cause of an ablation-first strategy for some patients experiencing paroxysmal AF. The PROGRESSIVE-AF study demonstrated that patients who are ablated early in the disease cycle are less likely than those placed on drug management to experience recurrence and to be readmitted, just two of several findings that are driving cardiologists toward device therapy and away from drug therapy for their patients with AF.

Abiomed Inc., has worked the ventricular assist device (VAD) space for a number of years with its Impella series of VADs, and a study coming out of Japan seems to affirm investors’ confidence in these devices. This registry study demonstrated that the combination of Impella devices and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) provides a 30-day survival rate of more than three in four patients with cardiogenic shock, an outcome that is said to support the notion that the native heart tissue can recover from myocarditis, an especially salient consideration for those who contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus.