Concomitant pulmonary vein isolation for induced atrial fibrillation to reduce future risk of atrial fibrillation after ablation for isolated atrial flutter.

BACKGROUND

A significant proportion of patients with isolated atrial flutter will have atrial fibrillation (AF) after cavotricuspid isthmus (CTI) ablation.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine whether concomitant pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) could reduce the incidence of new-onset AF (NOAF) in the setting of inducible AF after CTI ablation.

METHODS

A total of 275 consecutive patients with isolated atrial flutter who successfully underwent CTI ablation were included. Patients were stratified into the induced AF group (55 patients) and the noninduced AF group (220 patients) on the basis of the inducibility of AF. Subsequently, the induced AF group was randomly divided into a PVI group (28 patients) and non-PVI (27 patients) group.

RESULTS

During 27.0 ± 6.0 months of follow-up, the PVI group (7.1% vs 51.9% [P < .001]; hazard ratio [HR], 0.103 [95% confidence interval for HR, 0.038-0.278; P < .001]) and noninduced AF group (13.2% vs 51.9% [P < .001]); HR, 0.207 [95% confidence interval for HR, 0.073-0.586; P < .001]) exhibited substantially lower incidence and risk of NOAF compared with the non-PVI group. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that history of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and heart failure and larger body mass index, larger left atrial diameter, and lower left ventricular ejection fraction were identified predictors of NOAF.

CONCLUSION

Inducibility of AF during CTI ablation is positively associated with an increased risk of NOAF, whereas concomitant PVI for induced AF can significantly reduce the incidence of NOAF.