Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to present the official peer-reviewed highlights of the 36th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Heart Rhythm Society, held in Boston, Massachusetts, from May 13 to 16, 2015.

MD Conference Express® provides timely, peer-reviewed highlights of high-impact presentations from the live conference, long before they are published in the academic literature, and is a trusted education resource. The articles selected for this issue underwent a rigorous 5-step peer-review process to ensure their accuracy and provide a reliable interim information source prior to the research being vetted by the standard journal peer-review process.

The articles in this issue of MD Conference Express represent the most compelling topics of relevance to a broad array of practitioners and have the potential to influence clinical practice.

Among the clinical trial highlights presented are 2 studies of radiofrequency catheter ablation, including pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). The FreezeAF study showed that cryoballoon ablation was noninferior to radiofrequency ablation, and a low rate of pulmonary vein stenosis after PVI was found in the ADVICE trial substudies. A randomized study, VENTURE AF, and a multicenter registry provided support for the benefit of uninterrupted treatment with rivaroxaban and apixaban in patients undergoing catheter ablation.

In addition to learning about clinical trial results, you will find new information in selected areas of cardiovascular medicine, including new implantable technology that improved outcomes in patients with heart failure, and the unmet challenges in ablation for long-standing persistent AF.

We hope that you find the information and practical perspectives in this issue of MD Conference Express helpful in integrating this new information into your clinical practice. For more information, please visit mdce.sagepub.com.