MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jonathan S. Steinberg, MD Director, SMG Arrhythmia Center Summit Medical Group Professor of Medicine (adj) University of Rochester School of Medicine Core Professor of Cardiology and Internal Medicine Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall U Short Hills, NJ 0707 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The autonomic nervous system activity plays an important role in the onset and perpetuation of atrial fibrillation, particularly for AF that follows cardiac surgery. Botulinum toxin (BTX) is a potent inhibitor of neural transmission. In a randomized placebo-controlled study of 60 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery, patients who received intraoperative Botulinum toxin injections to the neural ganglia on the cardiac surface exhibited a sustained reduction in the incidence and overall burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) over 3 years of follow-up, accompanied by a reduction in need for hospitalization. (more…)