St. Jude OK’D on Heart Failure Device

U.S. device maker St. Jude Medical said Tuesday it has been OK’d to market its Atlas heart failure device that also treats atrial fibrillation.

The company said the system is the first heart failure device to use atrial fibrillation suppression technology.

The Atlas cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator helps maintain the heart’s atrial rhythm by pacing slightly faster than the patient’s natural heart rate, St. Jude said.

The device’s AF suppression algorithm has been shown in studies to reduce the percentage of days a patient experiences AF symptoms, the company said.

Heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which St. Jude called the two new epidemics of cardiovascular disease, occur together in about 40 percent of the 5 million U.S. heart failure patients.