One year follow-up after cryoballoon isolation of the pulmonary veins in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Aims: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with cryoenergy delivered through a balloon is a new approach in the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), but long-term follow-up is lacking. The aim of this study was to provide insight in the success rate and the incidence of recurrences. Methods and results: Patients with symptomatic AF despite anti-arrhythmic drugs (AADs) were treated with cryoballoon PVI. Daily transtelephonic ECG monitoring, 24 h Holter-ECG, and an arrhythmia-focused questionnaire were used to document AF. One hundred and forty-one patients completed a follow-up of 457 ± 252 days. Before ablation, Holter-ECG showed AF in 45%, including 16% continuous AF throughout the recording. Event recording revealed a median AF burden of 26%. The questionnaire showed a median of weekly AF complaints lasting for hours. All but one patient had successful PVI with a single procedure. After ablation, AF (defined as lasting for more than 30 s) was seen in 11% of Holter-ECGs, with 1% continuous AF. The event recording showed an AF burden of 9%. The median patient reported no more AF-related symptoms. Recurrence during the first 3 months was predictive for later recurrence. A second procedure was performed in 24 patients. The freedom of AF was 59% without AADs after 1,2 procedures. Four right phrenic nerve paralyses occurred, all resolving within 6 months. No PV stenoses were observed. Conclusion: Pulmonary vein isolation with a cryothermal balloon is an effective treatment for paroxysmal AF, resulting in a clinical success rate comparable to studies involving radiofrequency ablation. Temporary right phrenic nerve paralysis is the most important complication

Electro-anatomical mapping of the left atrium before and after cryothermal balloon isolation of the pulmonary veins

Introduction: The 28 mm cryoballoon catheter is a device used for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent of the ablation in the antral regions of the left atrium. Methods and Results: Eighteen patients with drug refractory, symptomatic, paroxysmal AF were enrolled. A 3D electroanatomic reconstruction of the left atrium was made before and after successful PVI with the 28 mm cryoballoon. Markers were placed at the ostium. Sixteen patients were mapped. Fourteen patients had 4 veins each, and 2 patients had a common ostium of the left sided veins. All separate ostia were isolated in the antral region. The two common ostia showed ostial isolation. There was a significant difference in vein size between the common (29 and 31 mm) and the separate ostia (19∈±∈4 mm) (p∈<∈0.01). The performance of an additional segmental ablation if balloon PVI did not eliminate all electrical activity, did not influence the extent of the ablation. The earliest left atrial activation during sinus rhythm was located in the superior septal region before ablation in all patients. After ablation, two patients showed a substantial downward shift towards the middle and inferior septal region respectively (NS). Four patients demonstrated a slight downward shift of the first activation. Conclusions: In cryoballoon PVI, the majority of the veins undergo antral isolation. Veins with a diameter larger than the balloon, are isolated ostially. In individual cases, the left atrial activation sequence appears to be altered after ablation

Clinical outcome of ablation for long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation with or without defragmentation

Objective To assess the outcome and associated risks of atrial defragmentation for the treatment of long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (LSP-AF). Methods Thirty-seven consecutive patients (60.4±7.3 years; 28 male) suffering from LSP-AF who underwent pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) and linear ablation were compared. All patients were treated with the Stereotaxis magnetic navigation system (MNS). Two groups were distinguished: patients with (n =20) and without (n =17) defragmentation. The primary endpoint of the study was freedom of AF after 12 months. Secondary endpoints were AF termination, procedure time, fluoroscopy time and procedural complications. Complications were divided into two groups: Major (infarction, stroke, major bleeding and tamponade) and minor (fever, pericarditis and inguinal haematoma). Results No difference was seen in freedom of AF between the defragmentation and the non-defragmentation group (56.2 % vs. 40.0%, P=0.344). Procedure times in the defragmentation group were longer; no differences in fluoroscopy times were observed. No major complications occurred. A higher number of minor complications occurred in the defragmentation group (45.0 % vs. 5.9 %, P=0.009). Mean hospital stay was comparable (4.7±2.2 vs. 3.4±0.8 days, P=0.06). Conclusion Our study suggests that complete defragmentation using MNS is associated with a higher number of minor complications and longer procedure times and thus compromises efficiency without improving efficacy

Extended analysis of a genome-wide association study in primary sclerosing cholangitis detects multiple novel risk loci.

A limited number of genetic risk factors have been reported in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). To discover further genetic susceptibility factors for PSC, we followed up on a second tier of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from a genome-wide association study (GWAS). We analyzed 45 SNPs in 1221 PSC cases and 3508 controls. The association results from the replication analysis and the original GWAS (715 PSC cases and 2962 controls) were combined in a meta-analysis comprising 1936 PSC cases and 6470 controls. We performed an analysis of bile microbial community composition in 39 PSC patients by 16S rRNA sequencing. Seventeen SNPs representing 12 distinct genetic loci achieved nominal significance (p(replication) <0.05) in the replication. The most robust novel association was detected at chromosome 1p36 (rs3748816; p(combined)=2.1 × 10(-8)) where the MMEL1 and TNFRSF14 genes represent potential disease genes. Eight additional novel loci showed suggestive evidence of association (p(repl) <0.05). FUT2 at chromosome 19q13 (rs602662; p(comb)=1.9 × 10(-6), rs281377; p(comb)=2.1 × 10(-6) and rs601338; p(comb)=2.7 × 10(-6)) is notable due to its implication in altered susceptibility to infectious agents. We found that FUT2 secretor status and genotype defined by rs601338 significantly influence biliary microbial community composition in PSC patients. We identify multiple new PSC risk loci by extended analysis of a PSC GWAS. FUT2 genotype needs to be taken into account when assessing the influence of microbiota on biliary pathology in PSC.Norwegian PSC Research Center German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through the National Genome Research Network (NGFN) Integrated Research and Treatment Center - Transplantation 01EO0802 PopGen biobank NIH DK 8496

A prospective study on safety of catheter ablation procedures: Contact force guided ablation could reduce the risk of cardiac perforation

Background: Contact force (CF) sensing catheters provide advantages with regard to safety and efficacy. This study aimed to evaluate if CF catheters reduce cardiac perforations and other major complications and offer equal safety compared to the magnetic navigation system (MNS). Methods: Data from 1.517 ablation procedures from our prospective registry was analyzed. Ablations were performed using either CF guided catheters (CF group, n = 248), non-CF catheters (NCF group, n = 813), or MNS (n = 456). Four subgroups were analyzed: atrial fibrillation (AF, n = 557), supraventricular tachycardia (SVT, n = 715), ventricular tachycardia (VT, n = 190) and patients with congenital heart defects (CHD, n = 55). The primary endpoint of this study was incidence of cardiac perforation. Secondary endpoints were major and minor complications within 30 days of the procedure. Results: Complications occurred in 11.3% (n = 172) of the procedures. In 2.8% (n = 43) a major complication occurred, 0.9% (n = 13) had a perforation, 8.5% (n = 129) had a minor complication and 2 patients died (0.1%). No cardiac perforation occurred in the CF group, which was significantly different from NCF procedures (0.0% vs. 1.6%; relative risk 0.76, 95% CI 0.74-0.79, P = 0.031) and equal to MNS (0.0%). This was also observed in the AF subgroup (0.0% vs. 3.3%; RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.63-0.72, P = 0.021), and the occurrence of major complications was lower for CF versus NCF procedures (2.1% vs. 7.8%, P = 0.010). Conclusions: CF-guided catheter ablation is superior to NCF with regard to procedural safety and avoidance of cardiac perforation. This difference is due to a reduction of cardiac perforation and major complications in the AF subgroup. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Regular atrial tachycardias developing after cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation: Incidence, characteristics, and predictors

textabstractAimsCryoballoon ablation (CBA) is a well-used technique when performing pulmonary vein (PV) isolation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). Our aim is to describe incidence, characteristics, and clinical predictors for developing atrial tachycardias (ATs) after cryoballoon PV isolation in patients with paroxysmal AF.Methods and resultsThe study population consisted of 181 consecutive patients undergoing a first CBA. All patients received an event-recorder before cryoablation and transmitted daily electrocardiogram (ECG) during 1 month before ablation and 3 months after. Further follow-up consisted of 24 h Holter monitoring and ECG registration every 3 months and also in patients presenting with symptoms. A mean follow-up period was 497.9 ± 283.9 days, and 175 patients completed follow-up. In 14 (8%) patients regular ATs were registered. In mul

Prognostic role of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and B-type natriuretic peptide in implantable cardioverter-defibrillator patients

Background: High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) are useful biomarkers for cardiovascular risk stratification. Little data are available regarding the prognostic value of hs-CRP and BNP serum levels and future ventricular arrhythmic events triggering implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy. Methods: A total of 100 patients eligible for ICD implantation were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Serum levels of hs-CRP and BNP were obtained the day before ICD implantation and at scheduled follow-up visits. For risk analysis, the study cohort was dichotomized based on serum level of hs-CRP using a cut-off value of 3 mg/L. The endpoint was appropriate ICD therapy triggered by ventricular arrhythmias during a follow-up of 24 months. Results: Appropriate ICD therapy was delivered in 20% of patients. Median baseline serum level of hsCRP was significantly higher in patients with appropriate ICD therapy than in those without appropriate ICD therapy (5.33 mg/L vs 2.19 mg/L; P = 0.002). The same was true for median serum levels of hs-CRP and BNP during follow-up (5.43 mg/L vs 2.61 mg/L, P = 0.001 and 261.0 pg/mL vs 80.1 pg/mL, P = 0.01, respectively). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that baseline hs-CRP level > 3 mg/L was independently associated with appropriate ICD therapy (odds ratio 4.0, 95% 1.1-14.2; P = 0.03). Conclusion: Elevated preimplantation hs-CRP serum level is independently associated with increased risk for appropriate ICD therapy. Monitoring for elevated BNP levels during follow-up adds to the assessment of risk for future arrhythmias

Long-term follow-up after catheter ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia: a comparison of cryothermal and radiofrequency energy in a large series of patients

Radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is highly successful but carries a risk for inadvertent atrioventricular block. Cryoablation (cryo) has the potential to assess the safety of a site before the energy is applied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of cryothermal ablation in a large series of patients and compare it to RF. All consecutive routinely performed AVNRT ablations from our centre between 1999 and 2007 were retrospectively analysed. In total, 274 patients were elegible: 150 cryoablations and 124 RF. Overall procedural success was 96% (262/274), and equal in both groups, but nine patients were crossed to another arm. Mean fluoroscopy time was longer in the group treated with RF (27 +/- 22 min vs. cryo 19 +/- 15 min; p = 0.002). Mean procedure time was not different (RF 138 +/- 71 min vs. cryo 146 +/- 60 min). A permanent pacemaker was necessary in two RF patients. The questionnaire revealed a high incidence of late arrhythmia related symptoms (48%), similar in both groups, with improved perceived quality of life. The number of redo procedures for AVNRT over 4.3 +/- 2.5-years follow-up was not statistically different (11% after cryo and 5% after RF). Our data confirm that cryo and RF ablation with 4-mm tip catheters for AVNRT are equally effective, even after long-term follow-up