Background: We investigated the impact of previous catheter ablation (CA) on the midterm outcomes of totally thoracoscopic ablation in patients with lone atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: Between February 2012 and July 2018, 332 patients underwent totally thoracoscopic ablation for the treatment of AF (persistent AF; n=264, 80%). The patients were stratified into CA (n=47, 14%) and non-CA (nCA; n=285, 86%) groups according to their CA history. Results: All the baseline clinical characteristics and risk factors were similar between the groups except for age, percentage of male patients, prevalence of paroxysmal AF, prior percutaneous coronary intervention, and left atrial volume index (LAVI). No significant intergroup differences were observed in the incidence of early and late complications. At late follow-up, normal sinus rhythm was observed in 92% (43 of 47) of the patients in the CA group and 85% (242 of 285) of the patients in the nCA group (p=0.268). The rate of freedom from AF recurrence at 5 years was 55.3%±11.0% in the CA group, which was similar to that in the nCA group (55.7%±5.1%, p=0.690). In Cox regression analysis, preoperative brain natriuretic peptide levels and LAVI were associated with AF recurrence, but CA history was not significant. Conclusion: Totally thoracoscopic ablation was safe and effective in treating AF irrespective of CA history. A history of CA did not appear to affect the procedural complexity.
Although a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach is recommended for advanced heart failure and heart transplantation (HTx), no studies have investigated the impact of the team approach on post-HTx survival. Thus, we implemented an MDT approach in our HTx program in 2014, with the active involvement of critical care and extracorporeal life support (ECLS) teams and the use of a real-time online information sharing system. We hypothesized that this MDT approach would result in improved survival of patients who had undergone HTx. We enrolled 250 adult patients who underwent HTx between December 2003 and June 2018. They were divided into non-MDT (n = 120; before 2014) and MDT (n = 130; since 2014) groups. The primary outcome was overall mortality. In terms of donor age, diabetes, dialysis, ECLS, and waiting time, the MDT group had more high-risk patients. The MDT approach was found to be an independent predictor of overall survival using a variety of multivariable analytic methods, including inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis. An HF team, a critical care team, and an ECLS team collaboration may improve survival following HTx. To improve the efficiency of the MDT approach, we recommend using a real-time online information sharing system.
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