Piorkowski, Christopher; Kottkamp, Hans; Tanner, Hildegard; Kobza, Richard; Nielsen, Jens Cosedis; Arya, Arash; Hindricks, Gerhard (2005). Value of different follow-up strategies to assess the efficacy of circumferential pulmonary vein ablation for the curative treatment of atrial fibrillation. Journal of cardiovascular electrophysiology, 16(12), pp. 1286-1292. Wiley-Blackwell 10.1111/j.1540-8167.2005.00245.x
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)BACKGROUND
The objective of this study was to compare transtelephonic ECG every 2 days and serial 7-day Holter as two methods of follow-up after atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation for the judgment of ablation success. Patients with highly symptomatic AF are increasingly treated with catheter ablation. Several methods of follow-up have been described, and judgment on ablation success often relies on patients' symptoms. However, the optimal follow-up strategy objectively detecting most of the AF recurrences is yet unclear.
METHODS
Thirty patients with highly symptomatic AF were selected for circumferential pulmonary vein ablation. During follow-up, a transtelephonic ECG was transmitted once every 2 days for half a year. Additionally, a 7-day Holter was recorded preablation, after ablation, after 3 and 6 months, respectively. With both, procedures symptoms and actual rhythm were correlated thoroughly.
RESULTS
A total of 2,600 transtelephonic ECGs were collected with 216 of them showing AF. 25% of those episodes were asymptomatic. On a Kaplan-Meier analysis 45% of the patients with paroxysmal AF were still in continuous SR after 6 months. Simulating a follow-up based on symptomatic recurrences only, that number would have increased to 70%. Using serial 7-day ECG, 113 Holter with over 18,900 hours of ECG recording were acquired. After 6 months the percentage of patients classified as free from AF was 50%. Of the patients with recurrences, 30-40% were completely asymptomatic. The percentage of asymptomatic AF episodes stepwise increased from 11% prior ablation to 53% 6 months after.
CONCLUSIONS
The success rate in terms of freedom from AF was 70% on a symptom-only-based follow-up; using serial 7-day Holter it decreased to 50% and on transtelephonic monitoring to 45%, respectively. Transtelephonic ECG and serial 7-day Holter were equally effective to objectively determine long-term success and to detect asymptomatic patients.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Cardiovascular Disorders (DHGE) > Clinic of Cardiology |
UniBE Contributor: |
Tanner, Hildegard |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health |
ISSN: |
1045-3873 |
Publisher: |
Wiley-Blackwell |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Hildegard Tanner |
Date Deposited: |
17 Jul 2014 09:11 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 14:28 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1111/j.1540-8167.2005.00245.x |
PubMed ID: |
16403058 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/42306 |
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