The increasing incidences of atrial fibrillation, strokes due to blood clots and brain damages are the major factors driving the global atrial fibrillation market. Furthermore, the rising geriatric population base globally suffering from various heart diseases is also a factor propelling the atrial fibrillation market. Some of the other drivers for the global atrial fibrillation market include the rising prevalence of diseases caused by lifestyle habits such as excessive alcohol consumption and smoking. As atrial fibrillation patients have risk of blood clot formation and occurrence of strokes, patients are also treated with anti clotting and blood thinning medications. The increased demand for atrial fibrillation and minimally invasive procedures is a direct consequence of rapidly increasing incidences of heart failures, congenital heart diseases and coronary artery diseases all over the world. In young patients, sometimes heart rhythm control cannot be maintained through medication or cardioversion, then radiofrequency ablation can be attempted to control the heart rhythm. The technological advancements in the field of radiofrequency ablation such as the introduction of remotely obtained computed tomography has also increased the growth of the atrial fibrillation market. The risk of atrial fibrillation disease increases with age. As stated by WHO, 8% of people who are over the age of 80 suffer from some kind of atrial fibrillation. The increasing incidences of atrial fibrillation triggering diseases globally, such as obesity, pneumonia, pulmonary embolus, high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism and mitral stenosis is the factor expected to further fuel the atrial fibrillation market over the forecast period.
The global atrial fibrillation market is segmented on the basis of pharmacological procedures and non pharmacological procedures. The pharmacological treatments involve anti coagulant drugs and anti arrhythmic drugs. The non pharmacological procedures are the therapies which does not include drugs for the diagnosis of diseases. The non pharmacological procedure includes diagnosis through procedures such as electric cardioversion, maze surgery and catheter ablation. The surgical catheter ablation dominates the atrial fibrillation market owing to an extremely high success rate in most arrhythmias. The surgical catheter ablation includes several procedures. The most commonly used procedure in catheter ablation includes microwave catheter ablation and radiofrequency catheter ablation. Their increased application is a consequence of faster recovery and the reduced size of cardiac incision.
The global atrial fibrillation market is segmented on the basis of key regions into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and RoW. As of 2013, North America dominated the atrial fibrillation market owing to the huge patient base suffering from heart diseases and the presence of highly elevated procedure volumes which are supported by the presence of refined healthcare infrastructure in this region. Asia Pacific is expected to show lucrative growth over the forecast period owing to the high patient awareness and rapidly increasing healthcare expenditure levels in this region.
The key players in the global atrial fibrillation market include Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Ltd., St. Jude Medical Inc., Endoscopic Technologies Inc., Bristol Myers Squibb Corporation, Boston Scientific Corporation, Cardiofocus Inc., AtriCure Inc., Biosense Webster Inc. and Sanofi Aventis. The market leaders in the global atrial fibrillation market are involved in constant attempts for the development of innovative methodologies which would increase the efficiency and accuracy of atrial fibrillation diagnosis while providing the efficient processing of the overall treatment. This companies are also entering into strategic collaborations, expansions and new product launches to extend their global patient base. St. Jude Medical Inc. has introduced an innovative Endosense’s Tacti Cath which is efficient to provide live feedback regarding applied pressure during microwave catheter ablations and radiofrequency catheter ablations. Owing to rise in the implementation of these procedures, it is expected that TactiCath will also witness a huge growth in demand.
