Circumferential pulmonary vein isolation with second-generation multipolar catheter in patients with paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation: Procedural and one-year follow-up results

Aim. To estimate the clinical success of cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation (PVI).Methods.230 patients (males: 49.6%, mean age 57 (53; 62) with symptomatic paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) resistant to antiarrhythmic therapy were included in a single-center prospective study. The patients were randomized into 2 groups to undergo either cryoballoon ablation (n = 122) or radiofrequency (RF) (n = 108) ablation. Both groups were comparable in baseline parameters. The follow-up period was 12 months. Clinical outcomes were estimated with the use of a three-stage scale. The rates of cardiovascular rehospitalizations, direct-current cardioversions and repeated ablations during were estimated within the follow-up. The quality of life (QoL) in the cryoablation group was measured using the AFEQT scale.Results.77% (n = 94) of patients in the cryoballoon ablation group and 71.3% (n = 77) of patients in the RF group (р = 0.71) demonstrated reported the optimal clinical effects. Both groups, cryo ablation and RF ablation, had similar rates of cardiovascular hospitalizations (23.8 vs 28.7%, OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.4–1.4; р = 0.39), direct-current cardioversions (12.3 vs 17.6%, OR 0.7, 95% CI 0.3–1.4; р = 0.26) and repeated ablations (9.8–11.1%, OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.4–2.0; р = 0.75). The patients treated with cryoballoon as opposed to RF ablation had significantly more successful usage of “pill-in-pocket” strategy – 14.8 vs 6.5% (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.01–6.2; р = 0.04). Significant improvements of the QoL parameters with strong size effect have been found in the cryoablation group, i.e. global score (GS) increased by 8.9±6.9 (95% CI 6.6–10.1; dCohen 1.2; р<0.001), symptoms (S) – by 8.3±7.9 (95% CI 4.2–8.8; dCohen 1.5; р<0.001), daily activities (DA) – by 10.0±6.9 (95% CI = 6.4–10.6; dCohen 0.9; р<0.001), treatment concerns (TC) – by 5.5±6.0 (95% CI 6.3–9.2; dCohen 1.2; р<0.001) and treatment satisfaction (TS) – by 5.5±6.0 (95% CI 5.4–9.8; dCohen 0.9; р<0.001).Conclusion.The both catheter-based technologies had comparable clinical success. Cryoablation was characterized by improvement in all QoL parameters based on the AFEQT score.

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Abstract 15934: Comparison of Atrial Fibrillation Burden Reduction in Patients With Paroxysmal and Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing Cryoballoon Pulmonary Vein Isolation

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.142.suppl_3.15934 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽

Author(s):

Dan L Musat ◽

Nicolle S Milstein ◽

Jacqueline Pimienta ◽

Advay Bhatt ◽

Tina C Sichrovsky ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Pulmonary Vein ◽

Pulmonary Vein Isolation ◽

Persistent Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Loop Recorder ◽

Similar Reduction ◽

Af Ablation ◽

Ablation Success ◽

One Year ◽

Af Recurrence

Background: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is a cornerstone of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation procedures to treat symptomatic AF. Ablation success is defined by absence of AF recurrence >30 seconds. However, reduction in AF burden (AFB) is also an important endpoint. Whether patients with paroxysmal (PAF) and persistent AF (PeAF) have similar reduction in AFB post-ablation is unknown. Objective: To compare the decrease in AFB following cryoballoon (CB) PVI in patients with PAF and PeAF. Methods: We enrolled consecutive pts with an implantable loop recorder (ILR) who subsequently underwent CB PVI. All patients were followed prospectively for at least one year, or until repeat ablation; we compared AFB pre and post-ablation. Results: The cohort included had 47 patients (66 ± 10 years; 32 [68%] male; PAF [n=23, 49%]; CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc 2.7 ± 1.7, 34 [72%] on AAD at the time of ablation). A median of 136 days [IQR 280, 73; minimum of 30 days] of ILR data pre-ablation were available. The median AFB for PAF was 4.7% [IQR 0.9, 14.8] and PeAF was 6.8% [IQR 1.1, 40.4]. After excluding a 3-month post-ablation blanking period, recurrent AF occurred in 12 (52%) PAF and 11 (46%) PeAF patients. The median AFB post-ablation for PAF and PeAF cohorts was 0.03%, [IQR 0, 0.3] and 0.04%, [IQR 0, 1.1], respectively. This represents a >99% reduction in AFB. Conclusion: Although 50% of patients undergoing CB PVI for PAF or PeAF had a recurrence of AF, there was >99% reduction in AFB in both groups. These data highlight the importance of using AFB burden as a marker of therapeutic efficacy post-AF ablation.

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Five‐year experience with pulmonary vein isolation using the second‐generation cryoballoon for treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation

Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology ◽

10.1111/jce.13743 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (11) ◽

pp. 1500-1507 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ersan Akkaya ◽

Alexander Berkowitsch ◽

Sergej Zaltsberg ◽

Harald Greiss ◽

Christian W. Hamm ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Pulmonary Vein ◽

Pulmonary Vein Isolation ◽

Second Generation ◽

Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

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Identification of circumferential pulmonary vein isolation responders among patients with persistent atrial fibrillation: clinical value of the sequential low-dose ibutilide test

EP Europace ◽

10.1093/europace/euaa095 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (8) ◽

pp. 1197-1205

Author(s):

Shu-Nan He ◽

Ying Tian ◽

Liang Shi ◽

Yan-Jiang Wang ◽

Bo-Qia Xie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Pulmonary Vein ◽

Pulmonary Vein Isolation ◽

Low Dose ◽

Persistent Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Control Group ◽

Clinical Value ◽

Group 2 ◽

Circumferential Pulmonary Vein Isolation ◽

Group 1

Abstract Aims Circumferential pulmonary vein isolation can be effective as sole treatment for persistent atrial fibrillation. However, identifying those patients who will respond to this therapy remains a challenge. We investigated the clinical value of the sequential low-dose ibutilide test for identifying patients with persistent atrial fibrillation in whom pulmonary vein isolation is effective as sole therapy. Methods and results In a prospective cohort of 180 consecutive patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, intravenous low-dose (0.004 mg/kg) ibutilide was administered 3 days before ablation and after the completion of circumferential pulmonary vein isolation. In patients in whom ibutilide did not terminate atrial fibrillation pre-procedurally, but successfully terminated it intraprocedurally, no further atrial substrate modification was performed. Pre-procedural low-dose ibutilide failed to terminate the arrhythmia in all patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, while pulmonary vein isolation ± low-dose ibutilide terminated persistent atrial fibrillation in 55 (30.6%) of them (PsAF group 1). The remaining 125 (69.4%) patients underwent electrogram-based ablation (PsAF Group 2). The control group comprised 379 consecutive patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation who underwent pulmonary vein isolation over the same period. At 24 months follow-up, 39 (70.9%) patients in PsAF Group 1 and 276 (72.8%) patients in the control group were free from atrial tachyarrhythmias (P = NS); the arrhythmia-free rates in both groups were higher than that in PsAF group 2 (58.4%, P = 0.005). Conclusion The sequential low-dose ibutilide test is a simple method for identifying patients with persistent atrial fibrillation in whom pulmonary vein isolation alone is an appropriate treatment strategy.

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