AF Awareness Prioritizing Proactive Cardiac Care

This September, for Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month, we’re spotlighting how early intervention technologies are reshaping cardiac care. Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects millions worldwide and often goes undetected until it causes serious harm. At BIOTRONIK, our focus on forward-thinking, proactive care drives innovation across cardiac technologies, helping physicians prevent, detect, diagnose and manage conditions such as AF and improve the quality of life of their patients. 

Atrial Fibrillation: A Growing Challenge Demanding Earlier Action 

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia, and it can lead to serious complications, such as dementia, heart failure, stroke, or even death. Despite its prevalence, the mechanisms underlying the onset of AF remain complex and incompletely understood. Many patients remain asymptomatic or unaware of their condition until a severe event—such as a stroke—uncovers it. Subclinical AF, detectable only through implanted devices, is particularly insidious and has been shown to carry comparable thromboembolic risk. This is why Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month is so important.

AF incidence rises steeply with age, especially beyond 65, and as life expectancy increases globally, so too does the burden on healthcare systems. And while symptoms can range from mild to severe, AF can greatly impact people’s quality of life. Treatment options range from medication to electrophysiological treatments or implanted devices; however, each case is individual, and prevention and early detection are critical.

 Physicians can take early action against AF. At BIOTRONIK, we’re striving to create a future where AF is prevented when possible, detected early, managed effectively, and monitored continuously, reducing the risk of complications and improving long-term clinical outcomes for patients.

Proactive Cardiac Technologies: Fighting AF with Each Device

AF prevention, detection, diagnosis, and management are built into BIOTRONIK’s key technologies:

  •  Our Closed Loop Stimulation (CLS) technology has been shown to reduce the risk of subclinical AF by 16%[i], offering a proactive approach to patient care.
  • DX technology stands out as the only single-lead ICD system that delivers AF management data directly from the atrium, significantly improving AF detection.
  • The SmartECG technology within BIOMONITOR IV leverages AI to reduce unnecessary data review and assist physicians in making more accurate AF diagnoses..
  • The BIOTRONIK Home Monitoring system supports physicians and healthcare teams with proactive, data-driven AF management, helping to streamline workflows and enhance patient outcomes. 

Throughout this month’s blog series, we’ll explore each of these innovations in detail, share the clinical evidence supporting them, and explain how they help physicians deliver high-quality, efficient care while saving valuable time.

You can read more about our approach to AF management and our unique solutions here.

 

 

[i] Wang CC, Merkely B, Lin LY, Oh IY, Bertaglia E, Saporito D, Menichelli M, Nicosia A, Carretta DM, Coppolino A, Ching CK, Del Castillo ÁM, Su X, Del Maestro M, Giacopelli D, Gargaro A, Botto GL. Closed loop stimulation reduces the incidence of atrial high-rate episodes compared with conventional rate-adaptive pacing in patients with sinus node dysfunctions. Europace. 2024 Jul 2;26(7):euae175. doi: 10.1093/europace/euae175. Erratum in: Europace. 2024 Aug 3;26(8):euae217. doi: 10.1093/europace/euae217. PMID: 38938169; PMCID: PMC11226787.