As I mentioned in my last blog, one of the highlights of the recent Third Annual Western Atrial Fibrillation Symposium was a presentation by Walid Saliba, MD, from the Cardiovascular Medicine department at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Saliba spoke about the Atrial Fibrillation Information System (AFIS), the first comprehensive information system developed specifically to support the medical specialty of cardiac electrophysiology.

The primary purpose of AFIS is to assist electrophysiologists in the daunting task of evaluating numerous data sources needed for AF patient management. It captures images, monitor tests, procedural reports, clinic notes and patient history to provide clinicians with a longitudinal data set that presents a holistic view of the patient.

Developed through collaboration between the University of Utah School of Medicine and the AFIS Advisory Board of eCardio Diagnostics, AFIS has three functions based on different types of data inputs. First, it maintains all the character-based data that comprises a patient’s medical history, including medications, symptoms, physician reports, co-morbidities and risk factors. Second, it organizes all the information gleaned from pre- and post-procedural monitoring and allows the display of atrial fibrillation burden. Lastly, it handles an array of images from MRI and CT scanners to various electroanatomical mapping and echocardiographic data.

In addition to helping physicians manage AF patients, AFIS is a powerful tool for teaching and research. For example, it provides hospitals with unique imaging algorithms developed by the University of Utah for the analysis of scar burden. AFIS also serves as the foundation for the development of a centralized AF Registry, which allows participating hospitals to share depersonalized patient data for research purposes. Several institutions in the U.S. and Europe participate in the AFIS Registry, which is expected to house data on more than 1,000 patients by the end of the year.

For more information on Dr. Saliba’s presentation and others at the Western Atrial Fibrillation Symposium, see the article in this month’s EP Lab Digest. It’s also not too early to register for next year’s symposium, which will be held at the Park City Marriott in Park City, UT, February 25-26, 2011.

Nassir F. Marrouche, MD is the Executive Director of the Comprehensive Arrhythmia Research & Management Center, Director of Electrophysiology Laboratories, and Director of the Atrial Fibrillation Program at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Division of Cardiology.