Abstract
Background
Pulmonary veins isolation (PVI)is an effective therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF), recommended by current guidelines. However, recurrences after first radio-frequency (RF) catheter ablation (CA) are still high. PV reconnection could be due to ineffective transmural lesions; automated ablation lesion tags (the VisiTag algorithm) based on predefined parameters of catheter stability and contact force (CF) have been developed to allow the detection of ineffective ablation lesion, nevertheless there is a lack of multicenter studies exploring this technology.
Objective
the aim of our study was to assess the rate of recurrence after a first PVI procedure in a large, multicentric Italian population and to explore the efficacy of Visitag algorithm (CARTO 3) used to guide RF ablation of AF.
Methods
we analyzed 214 patients of the SMOP-AF study (Substrate Mapping as Outcome Predictor in Atrial Fibrillation Ablation), a prospective multi-centric study enrolling patients with paroxysmal and persistent AF undergoing a first PVI procedure after an high-density mapping during sinus rhythm. During the procedure, ablation was guided by an automated annotation system in which tag based on predefined parameters were displayed real-time in each lesion site on the electroanatomical map. Visitag settings for the catheter position stability were a 2,5 mm distance limit for at least 7 sec and a minimum CF of 5 g over 30% of the ablation and a FTI>400 g*s. Where available (n=106, 49.5%), Ablation Index (AI), which also incorporates information on delivered RF power, was used instead of FTI to guide RF ablation with a threshold range of 400–550 for anterior/roof and 330–420 for posterior/inferior segments. Minimum and mean contact force, time and power values for each RF-lesion were recorded while both FTI and AI values were calculated automatically by the CARTO system. Comparison between groups were made by cross-tables, Mann-Whitney or Student T test as appropriated.
Results
the mean age of the enrolled population was 59±9 years, left ventricular ejection fraction was 59±9%. AF was paroxysmal in 89.7%, persistent in 10.3% of the patients and refractory to at least one anti-arrhythmic drug in 86.4% of the population. At 3 months follow-up 85% of the patients were free from AF recurrences and the success rate increased to 90.8% at 3–6 months, and 86.3% at 3–12 months follow-up. The mean ablation time was shorter in AI-guided vs. FTI-guided procedures (31±9 vs 46±29 min; p<0.001). There was a trend toward a reduction in AF recurrences when AI vs. FTI was used, both at 6 and 12 months (respectively 5,4% vs 13.6%; p 0.06 and 9.6% vs 18.5%; p 0.08).
Conclusion
PVI isolation using dedicated algorithms developed to guide the effectiveness of RFCA leads to a very high success-rate after a single procedure. The use of AI, which integrates contact force information with delivered power, reduces the procedural time and increases the overall success-rate
Two-Year Follow-Up after Contact Force Sensing Radiofrequency Catheter and Second-Generation Cryoballoon Ablation for Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: A Comparative Single Centre Study
