To Burn or Freeze During Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation, That Is the Question

With the deaths that have recently surfaced caused by esophageal perforation following cryoablation procedures for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, Dr. John Mandrola (a fellow colleague and EP-blogger) delves deeper into the incidence, issues, and current recommendations that might improve the safety of the procedure over at theHeart.org today.  It's an excellent review of the current state of the art as he's been able to review it.  Go now and read his piece.

Of course, as Dr. Mandrola points out, although the incidence of this deadly complication is rare, there is still much we don't know about this procedure's long-term safety, especially as newly-engineered cryoballoons  enter the EP community's ablation toolkits.  Careful long-term assessment of this technology's safety and efficacy, as well as its safety compared to more conventional radiofrequency ablation techniques for pulmonary vein isolation, remain unknown.

-Wes

Freezer Wars

When sales are tough, how do you grow? Well sue for patent infringement, of course!

CryoCor, based in San Diego, won U.S. approval last year for the CryoCor Cardiac Cryoablation System, which freezes tissue to correct certain abnormal heart rhythms.

``We believe that our exclusive license to these patents gives us broad coverage over key technologies that are critical in the field,'' said Edward F. Brennan, chief executive officer of CryoCor, in the statement.

CryoCath said in a statement distributed by Canada NewsWire that CryoCor's claims are ``without merit.''

The U.S. suit targets CryoCath products including the CryoConsole and Freezor brands, according to court documents.

CryoCath, based in Kirkland, Quebec, sued CryoCor in October in the same Delaware court alleging seven patents were infringed and seeking unspecified damages.

CryoCor, with $540,000 in 2006 sales and a $15 million net loss, fell 25 cents to $2.33 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares fell to a 52-week low of $2.01 earlier today.

CryoCath, with C$39.6 million in sales last year and a C$18.9 million net loss, fell 7 cents to C$4.15 in trading in Toronto.

I hope the judge can keep 'em straight. Imagine the conversation:

"CryoCor wants to sue CryoCath-"
"Hey, but CryoCath sued CryoCor first"
"Cry baby!"
"Oh for crying out loud!"
"Cryoablation was created by CryoCor."
"No, CryoCath."
"CryoCor!"
"CryoCath."
"CathCor, er, I mean..."

(Judge reaches for bottle of Valium.)

-Wes