RecordAF Registry Will Provide First Global Insight Into Real Life Management of Atrial Fibrillation - A Major Cause of Cardiovascular Death and Hospitalization

New Orleans, November 11 (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Baseline Data from RecordAF Presented at American Heart
Association's Scientific Sessions Today

Baseline data from the REgistry on Cardiac rhythm disORDers - an
international, observational, prospective survey assessing the
control of Atrial Fibrillation (RecordAF) - were presented today
during the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association
Congress in New Orleans, USA.

RecordAF is the largest prospective international registry ever
conducted in patients with paroxysmal or persistent Atrial
Fibrillation (AF). More than 5,600 patients from 21 countries in
North and South America, Europe and Asia were recruited to the
RecordAF Registry by hospital and office-based cardiologists. The aim
of the registry will be to evaluate the clinical outcomes of AF
treatment strategies over one year.

"RecordAF data will be invaluable for identifying best practice,
shaping future management and reducing the global burden of atrial
fibrillation," said Professor Le Heuzey of L'Hôpital Européen Georges
Pompidou, France and a member of the Registry's Scientific Council.

In order to accurately reflect clinical practice, the registry
recruited either patients treated with any type of anti-arrhythmic
medication or untreated patients who were eligible for a
pharmacological treatment. Data were gathered at baseline, 6 and 12
months.

The RecordAF baseline data shows that cardiovascular (CV) risk
factors and co-morbidities are common in patients with AF: 68 percent
have hypertension, 42 percent have dyslipidemia, 26 percent have
congestive heart failure, 18 percent are affected by coronary artery
disease and 16 percent have diabetes. While the preferred treatment
strategy is rhythm control (55 percent), rate control is more popular
in Asia and the United States.

"These new baseline results will further our understanding of the
co-morbidities associated with AF, such as cardiovascular disease,
and the impact that they may have on treatment strategies," said Dr.
Prystowsky of St Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis (USA) and a member of
the Registry's Scientific Council. "The one year follow-up will
assess the impact of different treatment strategies on clinical
outcomes, providing a valuable resource for evaluating successful
therapeutic options for long-term care of AF in a real life setting,"
he added.

Primarily a disease of old age, the incidence of AF is increasing
as the population ages - it is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in
clinical practice, affecting nearly seven million people in the
European Union and the United States.(1),(2) An independent risk
factor for sudden cardiac death,(3) AF is a major cause of morbidity
and mortality worldwide - indeed the mortality rate among patients
with AF is approximately double that of patients in normal sinus
rhythm.(4) AF is associated with a near five-fold increase in the
risk of ischemic stroke(5) and it aggravates heart failure.(6) About
75 percent of middle-aged subjects with AF will die or be
hospitalized for a cardiovascular reason within 20 years - a 2- to
3-fold increase compared with subjects without AF.(7) AF can also
compromise quality of life if symptoms restrict patients' ability to
perform everyday tasks.(8)

"AF is predicted to almost triple in the next 40 years, which
will lead to an increase of CV morbidity and mortality. If we are to
successfully manage AF and prevent its life-threatening
complications, we have to fully understand what we are dealing with.
RecordAF promises to deliver that deeper understanding," commented
Professor Peter Kowey from Lankenau Hospital, Philadelphia (USA) and
member of the Registry's Scientific Council.

RecordAF is supported by an educational grant from
sanofi-aventis.

About RecordAF Registry

RecordAF (REgistry on Cardiac rhythm disORDers) is the first and
only worldwide prospective registry on paroxysmal and persistent
atrial fibrillation, established to provide a global picture of AF
management. More than 5,600 patients have been recruited from
countries in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Participating
countries are: Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Poland,
Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom and United
States.

The primary objectives of RecordAF are to assess the therapeutic
success of AF management strategies at 12 months follow-up and
compare clinical outcomes between the two main strategies, rhythm
control and rate control. The registry was launched in 2007 and one
year follow-up data will be presented in 2009.

About Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation affects nearly seven million people in the
European Union and the United States.(1,2) A major cause of
hospitalization and mortality, AF is the most common cardiac
arrhythmia in clinical practice in which the upper chambers of the
heart beat in an uncoordinated and disorganized fashion; this can
lead to palpitations, shortness of breath and fatigue.

Although some patients are asymptomatic, it is important to
diagnose and treat AF as, without appropriate management, it can lead
to serious complications such as stroke and congestive heart failure.
The main aims of treatment are to manage the arrhythmia and to
prevent thromboembolism (obstruction of a blood vessel caused by
fragments of a blood clot carried from the site of origin to obstruct
another vessel). Typically, AF is managed either by a rhythm or rate
control strategy using medication which either causes the heart
rhythm to revert to normal or slows the heart rate.

1) Rhythm Control:

Restoring (by electrical or pharmacological cardioversion) and
maintaining sinus rhythm with anti-arrhythmic drugs.

2) Rate Control:

If cardioversion is unsuccessful, medication can maintain a
normal heart rate.

References

(1) Fuster V et al. ACC/AHA/ESC Guidelines. European Heart
Journal 2006; 27: 1979-2030

(2) Go AS, Hylek EM, Phillips KA, et al. Prevalence of diagnosed
atrial fibrillation in adults: national implications for rhythm
management and stroke prevention: the AnTicoagulation and Risk
Factors in Atrial Fibrillation (ATRIA) Study. JAMA 2001; 285:2370-5.

(3) Pedersen OD, Abildstrøm SZ, Ottesen MM, Rask-Madsen C, Bagger
H, Køber L, Torp-Pedersen C; TRACE Study Investigators. Increased
risk of sudden and non-sudden cardiovascular death in patients with
atrial fibrillation/flutter following acute myocardial infarction.
Eur Heart J. 2006 Feb;27(3):290-5. Epub 2005 Nov 2.

(4) Benjamin EJ, Wolf PA, D'Agostino RB, Silbershatz H, Kannel
WB, Levy D. Impact of atrial fibrillation on the risk of death: the
Framingham Heart Study. Circulation. 1998 Sep 8;98(10):946-52.

(5) Wolf PA, Abbott RD, Kannel WB. Atrial fibrillation as an
independent risk factor for stroke: the Framingham Study. Stroke.
1991 Aug;22(8):983-8.

(6) Wang TJ, Larson MG, Levy D, Vasan RS, Leip EP, Wolf PA,
D'Agostino RB, Murabito JM, Kannel WB, Benjamin EJ. Temporal
relations of atrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure and
their joint influence on mortality: the Framingham Heart Study.
Circulation 2003;107:2920-2925.

(7) Stewart S, Hart CL, Hole DJ, McMurray JJ. A population-based
study of the long term risks associated with atrial fibrillation:
20-year follow-up of the Renfrew/Paisley study. Am J Med.
2002;113:359-364

(8) Hamer ME, Blumenthal JA, McCarthy EA, Phillips BG, Pritchett
EL. Quality-of-life assessment in patients with paroxysmal atrial
fibrillation or paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Am J Cardiol
1994;74:826-829.

ots Originaltext: sanofi-aventis Group
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For more information, please contact: Angela Pope, Telephone:
+44-207-878-3000, Email: angela.pope@mslworldwide.com. Denis
Abbonato, Telephone: +44-207-878-3000, Email:
denis.abbonato@mslworldwide.com