A Common Atrial Fibrillation Procedure Is Aided by Damaging Neurons

Patients in a study of catheter ablation who showed signs of more injury to nerve cells and glia in the heart had fewer symptoms after the treatment.

Written byEmma Yasinski

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ABOVE: X-ray of a catheter ablation procedure, not from this study
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Injuring neurons, especially those involved in regulating a person’s heartbeat, sounds like a bad idea, but such “collateral” damage to nerve cells in the heart during catheter ablation—a common, but not fully understood, procedure used to treat atrial fibrillation—may actually lead to better outcomes, according to a study of mice and humans published on Wednesday (May 22) in Science Translational Medicine. Using a biomarker of injury to neurons and glia called S100B, the researchers find that patients with a greater increase in levels of the protein had fewer symptoms after the treatment than patients who experienced only a small rise in S100B.

“We were expecting that more neural damage would be bad for the patient,” Katharina Scherschel, a scientist at University Heart and Vascular Center UKE Hamburg and the lead author of the study, tells The Scientist, ...

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Meet the Author

Emma Yasinski
Emma is a Florida-based freelance journalist and regular contributor for The Scientist. A graduate of Boston University’s Science and Medical Journalism Master’s Degree program, Emma has been covering microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience, health, and anything else that makes her wonder since 2016. She studied neuroscience in college, but even before causing a few mishaps and explosions in the chemistry lab, she knew she preferred a career in scientific reporting to one in scientific research.
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