What is ChampionAF? A Basic Guide

Hello everyone, and today we are going to be discussing what ChampionAF is and what it was able to find. This cutting edge study has published many results and shown a lot of promise in dealing with stroke risk with atrial fibrillation. We will be building from the ground up to fully understand this key clinical trial.

What is Atrial Fibrillation??

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is a type of arrhythmia, or a condition in which part of the heart doesn’t beat properly. AFib is when the atria (the two upper chambers of the heart) quiver and beat chaotically and out of sync.

This means blood cannot pump effectively from the atria to the ventricles. Because blood isn’t moving fast and easily, the formation of clots is increased and that can cause an increase risk of stroke, deep vein thrombosis, and other clot-related conditions.

Your left atrium has an appendage called the Left Atrial Appendage. This is a common spot where clots can form in patient with AFib.

Photo by Joshua Chehov on Unsplash

AFib has no cure but is highly treatable. A key treatment is to give patients a blood thinner that can lower the risk of clotting. Thinning the blood comes with some downsides of having cuts that would not stop bleeding and increasing issues with nosebleeds.

There is another technology called Left Atrial Appendage Closure Devices, which close up the left atrial appendage and effectively stop clots from forming. This brings the questions: are these devices better or worse than the blood thinning medications.

ChampionAF

This is where ChampionAF comes in. It tested the long-term and short-term effects of blood thinning medications and closure devices to see which is better for patient care.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

In a summary, devices to close the left atrial appendage proved to be not inferior to the use of blood thinning medications in reducing clotting risk in patients with AFib. Additionally, the devices proved superior by decreasing the bleeding risk of patients comparative to using the medications of thinning the blood.

This shows one huge thing: devices should be put of high priority in the treatment of AFib compared to the use of blood thinners to decrease stroke risk. Again, a physician needs to consider the multiple points in a case-by-case basis. This paves the way to increase the usage of these devices in the management of AFib.

Photo by Robina Weermeijer on Unsplash

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