Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation 每 Current status and future directions

作者：S G Spitzer; L Karolyi

来源：Applied Cardiopulmonary Pathophysiology, 2009.

• atrial fibrillation
• antiarrhythmic medication
• catheter ablation
• pulmonary vein ablation catheter (PVAC)

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia experienced in clinical practice (approx. 1% predominance in adult population). To obtain sinus rhythm antiarrhythmic medications such as amiodarone have evolved as the most effective available and hence frequently used therapy. In contrast, its long-term efficacy turned out to be rather moderate and could cause serious side effects. Thus, catheter ablation seems to be a reasonable alternative in particular for patients with drug-refractory AF. However, the development in ablation strategies remains to be complex with often lengthy procedures. This study investigates whether a novel multielectrode catheter, delivering duty-cycled bipolar/unipolar RF energy, is feasible and safe. Therefore, 67 consecutive patients with paroxysmal/persistent AF have been analysed. PV isolation with the PVAC catheter was feasible and safe with shorter fluoroscopy/procedural results and good clinical efficacy at 6 months (stable sinus rhythm in 87%).