Skip Navigation


European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on March 8, 2009
European Heart Journal 2009 30(9):1105-1112; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehp063
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
30/9/1105    most recent
ehp063v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by O'Neill, M. D.
Right arrow Articles by Haïssaguerre, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by O'Neill, M. D.
Right arrow Articles by Haïssaguerre, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2009. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Long-term follow-up of persistent atrial fibrillation ablation using termination as a procedural endpoint

Mark D. O'Neill, Matthew Wright*, Sébastien Knecht, Pierre Jaïs, Mélèze Hocini, Yoshihide Takahashi, Anders Jönsson, Frédéric Sacher, Seiichiro Matsuo, Kang Teng Lim, Leonardo Arantes, Nicolas Derval, Nicholas Lellouche, Isabelle Nault, Pierre Bordachar, Jacques Clémenty and Michel Haïssaguerre

Service de Rythmologie, Hôpital Cardiologique du Haut Lévêque, Avenue de Magellan, 33604 Bordeaux, Pessac, France

Received 8 August 2008; revised 15 December 2008; accepted 30 January 2009; online publish-ahead-of-print 8 March 2009.

* Corresponding author. Tel: +33 5 57 65 64 71, Fax: +33 5 57 65 65 09, Email: mattwright007{at}btinternet.com

Aims: Catheter ablation of long-lasting persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) has been performed with varying results using a combination of different techniques. Whether arrhythmia termination during ablation is associated with an improved clinical outcome is controversial.

Methods and results: In this prospective study, 153 consecutive patients (56 ± 10 years) underwent catheter ablation of persistent AF (25 ± 33 months) using a stepwise approach with the desired procedural endpoint being AF termination. Repeat ablation was performed for patients with recurrent AF or atrial tachycardia (AT) after a 1 month blanking period. A minimum follow-up of 12 months with repeated Holter monitoring was performed. Atrial fibrillation was terminated in 130 patients (85%). There was a lower incidence of AF in those patients in whom AF was terminated during the index procedure compared with those who had not (5 vs. 39% P < 0.0001, mean follow-up 32 ± 11 months). Seventy-nine patients underwent repeat procedures: 64/130 in the termination group (6 AF, 58 AT) and 15 in the non-termination group (9 AF, 7 AT). After repeat ablation, sinus rhythm was maintained in 95% in whom AF was terminated compared with 52% in those in whom AF could not be terminated.

Conclusion: Procedural termination of long-lasting AF by catheter ablation alone is associated with an improved outcome.

Key Words: Atrial fibrillation • Catheter ablation


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.