Atrial fibrillation is a heart rhythm disorder and the heartbeat is irregular. Usually it is a heartbeat that is too fast, but sometimes also a heartbeat that is too slow. This is not dangerous, but treatment is often necessary to prevent damage to the heart. There are now several treatment options for atrial fibrillation and the new ear clip may now be added.
Treatment options for atrial fibrillation
There are already the necessary options to combat atrial fibrillation, such as medication, cardioversion, ablation or the insertion of a pacemaker. And now the scientists (Prof. Dr. Natasja de Groot, Dr. Yannick Taverne, Dr. Robert van den Berg (Erasmus MC) and Prof. Dr. Ir. Wouter Serdijn (Rui Guan, TU Delft, Medical Delta PhD candidate) have ) so discovered an extra treatment option in the form of an ear clip that gives electrical signals.
It turns out that the use of an ear clip can provide relief in some cases. The effect of the ear clip was first measured during ten open-heart operations. During these major operations, the researchers were able to capture the effect of the stimulation of the vagus nerve by the electrical stimulation of the ear clips.
Ear clip stimulates vagus nerve
The researchers saw the effect of vagus nerve stimulation on various properties of the electrical conduction of the heart. This nerve has many branches in the human body and is also connected to the heart. The vagus nerve is related, among other things, to social skills such as eye contact, speech, recognizing and processing voices. This important nerve can be influenced with an ear clip that gives electrical signals. In some patients there were beneficial effects, in other patients, however, unfavorable effects. These conflicting results may explain why ear clip treatment does not work in all patients with atrial fibrillation.
Ear clip results promising
The study shows in detail how stimulating the vagus nerve works in practice. Research leader Natasja de Groot (Erasmus MC, TU Delft), Scientific Leader of Medical Delta Cardiac Arrhythmia Lab explains the website van Erasmus MC: “By stimulating the nerve, the hyperactive state of the autonomic nervous system is weakened. It calms the nervous system, so to speak, but the ear clips do not work for every patient. The findings of the effects of stimulation of the vagus nerve are important clues, because it confirms what has been suspected for some time. The scientific evidence we have provided with this opens the door to new research into the further development and eventual implementation of tailor-made atrial fibrillation treatments.”
Atrial fibrillation & facts
Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder and can lead to other serious cardiovascular diseases. Of at least 373,700 people in the Netherlands, according to the Heart Foundation known to have atrial fibrillation. Medication can sometimes suppress atrial fibrillation and in some cases an intervention such as an ablation procedure or a reset via an electric shock (cardioversion) helps.
But regularly the arrhythmia returns. In addition to new treatments such as the innovative ear clip, more and more research is therefore being done into prevention. For example, home monitoring is used to detect the disease at a very early stage. This can be done, for example, with smart wearables, such as the Apple Watch, which, thanks to ever-improving algorithms, can monitor possible deviations in the heart rhythm remotely. Because it is so important to recognize this disease at the earliest possible stage, the Heart Foundation awarded a grant of 2.5 million euros at the end of 2022 for research into prevention, so that patients may be spared the serious consequences of this disease .
2023-07-31 04:57:35
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