MPO’s Most-Read Stories This Week—May 25

Matters of the heart took precedence on MPO’s website this past week. 

Cardiac-related news from the Heart Rhythm Society’s annual meeting in Boston topped pageviews, with clinical trial data on early CRT and artificial intelligence-guided atrial fibrillation (Afib) treatment besting recall woes from Hologic and an exclusive peek into incorporating human factors in engineering. 

The Afib study results shared at Heart Rhythm’s three-day event proved that a tailored cardiac ablation procedure supported by AI is a better treatment option for persistent and long-standing AF, thus challenging the current standard of care. Eighty-eight percent of patients who underwent AI-guided Afib treatment experienced freedom from the condition 12 months after the procedure with or without antiarrhythmic drugs, while 70% of patients who did not use AI-guided treatment reported improvement. Researchers touted similar positive study results early cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT): A randomized, physician-initiated, prospective clinical trial sponsored by The Nationa Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute found that early CRT may slow the progression of heart failure in patients with mild to moderately reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and left bundle branch block (LBBB). Investigators plan to examine the long-term clinical outcomes of CRT in both LVEF and LBBB.

Ranking below Heart Rhythm’s meeting-related news was Hologic’s Class I recall of its BioZorb Marker distributed between April 2, 2019, and April 1, 2024. The company is pulling the devices from the market due to complications and adverse events including infection, rash, device migration, device erosion, seroma, discomfort, or other issues from feeling the device in the breast.

The two other taffic drivers this past week included editor-in-chief Sean Fenske’s magazine feature on full-service medical device outsourcing and an online exclusive about the ways in which human factors engineering can help medical technology better align with the human experience.

1. Heart Rhythm 2024: AI-Guided Afib Treatment Better Than Standard Therapy

2. Heart Rhythm 2024: Early CRT Improves Cardiac Function in Mild to Moderate Heart Failure

3. Hologic Has a Serious Recall of the BioZorb Marker

4. The Intersection of Innovation and Human Factors in Medical Device Design

5. Partner Preference in Full-Service Medical Device Outsourcing