Catheter ablation of ganglionated plexi in patients with adenosine triphosphate-induced atrial fibrillation after pulmonary vein isolation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) remains a difficult management problem. The restoration and maintenance of sinus rhythm—rhythm control therapy—can markedly improve symptoms and haemodynamics for patients who have paroxysmal or persistent AF, but some patients fare well with rate control alone. Sinus rhythm can be achieved with anti-arrhythmic drugs or electrical cardioversion, but the maintenance of sinus rhythm without recurrence is more challenging. Catheter ablation of the AF triggers is more effective than anti-arrhythmic drugs at maintaining sinus rhythm. Whilst pulmonary vein isolation is an effective strategy, other ablation targets are being evaluated to improve sinus rhythm maintenance, especially in patients with chronic forms of AF. Previously extensive ablation strategies have been used for patients with persistent AF, but a recent trial has shown that pulmonary vein isolation without additional ablation lesions is associated with outcomes similar to those of more extensive ablation. This has led to an increase in catheter-based technology to achieve durable pulmonary vein isolation. Furthermore, a combination of anti-arrhythmic drugs and catheter ablation seems useful to improve the effectiveness of rhythm control therapy. Two large ongoing trials evaluate whether a modern rhythm control therapy can improve prognosis in patients with AF.

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Kolmogorov Complexity of Coronary Sinus Atrial Electrograms before Ablation Predicts Termination of Atrial Fibrillation after Pulmonary Vein Isolation

Entropy ◽

10.3390/e21100970 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (10) ◽

pp. 970 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Stępień ◽

Kuklik ◽

Żebrowski ◽

Sanders ◽

Derejko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Catheter Ablation ◽

Pulmonary Vein ◽

Pulmonary Vein Isolation ◽

Coronary Sinus ◽

Kolmogorov Complexity ◽

Similarity Index ◽

Dominant Frequency ◽

Significant Difference ◽

The Rich

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is related to a very complex local electrical activity reflected in the rich morphology of intracardiac electrograms. The link between electrogram complexity and efficacy of the catheter ablation is unclear. We test the hypothesis that the Kolmogorov complexity of a single atrial bipolar electrogram recorded during AF within the coronary sinus (CS) at the beginning of the catheter ablation may predict AF termination directly after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). The study population consisted of 26 patients for whom 30 s baseline electrograms were recorded. In all cases PVI was performed. If AF persisted after PVI, ablation was extended beyond PVs. Kolmogorov complexity estimated by Lempel–Ziv complexity and the block decomposition method was calculated and compared with other measures: Shannon entropy, AF cycle length, dominant frequency, regularity, organization index, electrogram fractionation, sample entropy and wave morphology similarity index. A 5 s window length was chosen as optimal in calculations. There was a significant difference in Kolmogorov complexity between patients with AF termination directly after PVI compared to patients undergoing additional ablation (p < 0.01). No such difference was seen for remaining complexity parameters. Kolmogorov complexity of CS electrograms measured at baseline before PVI can predict self-termination of AF directly after PVI.

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Pulmonary vein isolation alone vs. more extensive ablation with defragmentation and linear ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation: the EARNEST-PVI trial

EP Europace ◽

10.1093/europace/euaa293 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Koichi Inoue ◽

Shungo Hikoso ◽

Masaharu Masuda ◽

Yoshio Furukawa ◽

Akio Hirata ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Catheter Ablation ◽

Pulmonary Vein ◽

Pulmonary Vein Isolation ◽

Primary Endpoint ◽

Persistent Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Hazard Ratio ◽

Complication Rates ◽

Inferior Margin ◽

Linear Ablation

Abstract Aims Previous studies could not demonstrate any benefit of more intensive ablation in addition to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) including complex fractionated atrial electrogram (CFAE) and linear ablation for recurrence in the initial catheter ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). This study aimed to establish the non-inferiority of PVI alone to PVI plus these additional ablation strategies. Methods and results Patients with persistent AF who underwent an initial catheter ablation (n = 512, long-standing persistent AF; 128 cases) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either PVI alone (PVI-alone group) or PVI plus CFAE and/or linear ablation (PVI-plus group). After excluding 15 cases who did not receive procedures, we analysed 249 and 248 patients, respectively. The primary endpoint was recurrence of AF, atrial flutter, and/or atrial tachycardia, and the non-inferior margin was set at a hazard ratio of 1.43. In the PVI-plus group, 85.1% of patients had linear ablation and 15.3% CFAE ablation. After 12 months, freedom from the primary endpoint occurred in 71.3% of patients in the PVI-alone group and in 78.3% in the PVI-plus group [hazard ratio = 1.56 (95% confidence interval: 1.10–2.24), non-inferior P = 0.3062]. The procedure-related complication rates were 2.0% in the PVI-alone group and 3.6% in the PVI-plus group (P = 0.199). Conclusion This randomized trial did not establish the non-inferiority of PVI alone to PVI plus linear ablation or CFAE ablation in patients with persistent AF, but implied that the PVI plus strategy was promising to improve the clinical efficacy (NCT03514693).

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