Safety and Performance of the Affera SpherePVI™ Multi-Ablation System to Treat Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation (SpherePVI)

A Safety and Performance Assessment of the Affera SpherePVI™ Multi-Ablation System to Treat Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

A prospective, single-arm, multi-center study to evaluate the safety, performance, and effectiveness of the Affera SpherePVI™ Multi-Ablation System for treating paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Atrial Fibrillation
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: SpherePVI™ Catheter

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 150
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Sandra Jacobs; Phone Number: x; Email: sandra.jacobs@medtronic.com

Study Locations

• Czechia
  • Prague, Czechia
    • Recruiting
    • Homolka Hospital
    • Contact: Petr Neužil, MD. PhD
  • Prague, Czechia
    • Recruiting
    • Institute Klinicke a Experimentalni Mediciny
    • Contact: Petr Peichl, MD. PhD.

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Symptomatic paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation (PAF) documented by:

   • A physician's note indicating recurrent AF
   • At least two electrocardiographically documented AF episodes within 12 months prior to enrollment
2. Failure or intolerance of at least one Class I-IV anti-arrhythmic drug.
3. Suitable candidate for catheter ablation.
4. Age ≥ 18 and < 75 years.
5. Able and willing to give informed consent.
6. Able and willing, and has ample means to comply with all pre-procedure, post-procedure and follow-up testing requirements.

Exclusion Criteria:

Subjects will not be eligible for the study if any of the following criteria are met:

1. Continuous AF lasting more than 12 months (long-standing persistent AF).
2. AF secondary to electrolyte imbalance, thyroid disease, acute alcohol intoxication, or reversible or non-cardiac cause.
3. Previous left atrial catheter or surgical ablation (including septal closure or left atrial appendage closure).
4. Valvular cardiac surgical/percutaneous procedure (e.g., ventriculotomy, atriotomy, and valve repair or replacement and presence of a prosthetic valve).
5. Any carotid stenting or endarterectomy.
6. Any cardiac procedure (surgical or percutaneous) or percutaneous coronary intervention within 90 days prior to the initial procedure.
7. Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure within the 6 months prior to the index ablation procedure.
8. Awaiting cardiac transplantation or other cardiac surgery within 12 months following the initial ablation procedure.
9. Presence of any type of implantable cardiac defibrillator (with or without biventricular pacing function).
10. Documented thromboembolic event (stroke or transient ischemic attack) within the past 6 months (180 days).
11. Documented left atrial thrombus on imaging.
12. History of blood clotting or bleeding abnormalities.
13. Any condition contraindicating chronic anticoagulation.
14. Myocardial infarction (MI) within the 3 months (90 days) prior to the initial procedure.
15. Body mass index >40 kg/m2.
16. Left atrial diameter (anteroposterior) >50 mm for paroxysmal AF and >55mm for persistent AF.
17. Diagnosed atrial myxoma.
18. Left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) < 40%.
19. Uncontrolled heart failure or NYHA Class III or IV heart failure.
20. Rheumatic heart disease.
21. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
22. Unstable angina.
23. Moderate to severe mitral valve stenosis.
24. Severe mitral regurgitation (regurgitant volume ≥ 60 mL/beat, regurgitant fraction ≥ 50%, and/or effective regurgitant orifice area ≥ 0.40cm2).
25. Primary pulmonary hypertension.
26. Significant restrictive or obstructive pulmonary disease or chronic respiratory condition.
27. Renal failure requiring dialysis.
28. Acute illness, active systemic infection, or sepsis.
29. Significant congenital anomaly or medical problem that, in the opinion of the investigator, would preclude enrollment in this study or compliance with follow-up requirements or would impact the scientific soundness of the clinical trial results.
30. Any woman known to be pregnant or breastfeeding, or any woman of childbearing potential who is not on a reliable form of birth regulation method or abstinence.
31. Current or anticipated participation in any other clinical trial of a drug, device, or biologic during the duration of the study, unless pre-approved by the Sponsor.
32. Presence of intramural thrombus, tumor, or other abnormality that precludes vascular access, catheter introduction, or manipulation.
33. Known drug or alcohol dependency.
34. Life expectancy less than 12 months.
35. Vulnerable subject.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: SpherePVI™ Catheter; Subjects treated with the SpherePVI™ Catheter	Device: SpherePVI™ Catheter; Affera SpherePVI™ Multi-Ablation System

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of subjects experiencing a primary safety event	The primary safety outcome is the incidence of the following serious device-related Primary Adverse Events (AEs) occurring within 7 days of the index ablation procedure: Death; Myocardial infarction; Persistent phrenic nerve palsy; Transient ischemic attack (TIA); Stroke/cerebrovascular accident (CVA); Thromboembolism; Major vascular access complications / bleeding; Heart block; Gastroparesis; Severe pericarditis; Hospitalization (initial and prolonged) due to cardiovascular or pulmonary AE; Cardiac tamponade / perforation (up to 30 days); Pulmonary vein stenosis (up to 180 days); Atrio-esophageal fistula (up to 180 days)	6 months
Percentage of subjects with acute procedure success	The primary efficacy outcome is acute electrical isolation of all pulmonary veins using the study device. Acute electrical isolation of all pulmonary veins is defined as confirmation of entrance block in all targeted pulmonary veins.	Index ablation procedure

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of subjects experiencing a device- or procedure-related serious adverse event	The secondary safety outcome is the proportion of subjects experiencing device- or procedure-related serious adverse events (SAEs) as assessed at each follow-up visit	12 months
Percentage of subjects free from documented recurrence outside of the blanking period	Chronic efficacy will be evaluated as freedom from documented arrhythmia recurrence outside of a 90-day blanking period. Failure will be reported as both (i) recurrence of AF and (ii) recurrence of any atrial tachyarrhythmia (AF, atrial tachycardia, or atrial flutter).	12 Months
Product performance evaluated on a 5-point semi-quantitative scale ("strongly disagree" to "strongly agree")	Acute product performance will be evaluated during the procedure and includes the following: SpherePVI™ Catheter handling sufficient to reach reasonable intended targets, as determined by the physician:catheter delivery to the desired ablation sitescompletion of ablation proceduresafe removal of catheter from the subject; Electroanatomical navigation and/or mapping sufficient to aid the procedure (if used); Generation of acceptable acute ablation lesions; Acute block across linear ablation lines (e.g. CTI flutter line), if performed	Index ablation procedure
Percentage of pulmonary veins remaining isolated at remapping	Chronic efficacy may also be evaluated during an optional remapping procedure and will include the following: The number of pulmonary veins that remain isolated; The number of patients with all pulmonary veins isolated; The number of previously ablated lines that remain blocked (when applicable)	75 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Medtronic Cardiac Ablation Solutions

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Reddy VY, Anter E, Peichl P, Rackauskas G, Petru J, Funasako M, Koruth JS, Marinskis G, Turagam M, Aidietis A, Kautzner J, Natale A, Neuzil P. First-in-human clinical series of a novel conformable large-lattice pulsed field ablation catheter for pulmonary vein isolation. Europace. 2024 Mar 30;26(4):euae090. doi: 10.1093/europace/euae090.
• Reddy VY, Peichl P, Kautzner J, Anter E, Metzner A, Koruth J, Jais P, Rackauskas G, Petru J, Funasako M, Marinskis G, Turagam M, Aidietis A, Selma JM, Nejedlo V, Kueffer F, Tarakji KG, Natale A, Neuzil P. One-year outcomes of a conformable single-shot pulsed-field ablation catheter for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Heart Rhythm. 2025 Oct;22(10):2551-2561. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2025.04.031. Epub 2025 Apr 26.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 19, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 15, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 15, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 20, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 29, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): November 10, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 13, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 11, 2026
• Last Verified: June 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cardiovascular Diseases; Pathologic Processes; Heart Diseases; Arrhythmias, Cardiac; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Atrial Fibrillation
• Other Study ID Numbers: CP-00013

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: Yes
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: Yes