A ground-breaking step to improve cardiac care in Australia has been taken, as funding is announced for a clinical quality registry to improve outcomes following Atrial Fibrillation (AF) ablation.
Led by Alfred Hospital’s Head of Electrophysiology, Professor Peter Kistler, The Australian Registry for the Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation (AuRA-AF) brings together Australia’s leading clinical experts and researchers in AF ablation, and leverages the world-class registry science expertise housed within Monash University’s Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics (CCRET).
The AU$7 million funding over five years was secured under the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) – 2024 Enhancing Medical Device Surveillance Through Registries grant scheme.
AF is an irregular heart rhythm caused by chaotic electrical impulses that elevate the heart rate and often cause palpitations. Untreated, it can increase a person’s risk of blood clots, stroke, heart failure, vascular conditions including some dementias, and early death. 500,000 Australians are affected, resulting in over 200,000 hospital admissions every year.
The new national registry is an extraordinary collaboration between fifty chief investigators, which will see Australia’s leading electrophysiologists, cardiologists, healthcare providers, and consumer groups, uniting with leading cardiac research institutions including Monash University, the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, University of Melbourne and the University of Adelaide.
The CCRET will deliver the registry, which will sit alongside four other cardiac clinical quality registries based in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine that monitor a range of cardiac surgeries and medical devices across Australia.
