Patient: Male, 74-year-old
Final Diagnosis: Atrial fibrillation
Symptoms: Tachycardia
Medication:—
Clinical Procedure: —
Specialty: Cardiology
Objective:
Unusual clinical course
Background:
Treatment of atrial fibrillation and atrial tachycardia (AT) with catheter ablation results in high rates of success with the procedure and on long-term follow-up. A novel ablation catheter with a very high-power, short-duration (vHPSD) ablation mode using 90 W for 4 s has been introduced, which could improve safety and efficacy of catheter ablation, especially for pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). To date, vHPSD mode has only been evaluated for treatment of PVI, but it could be an efficient technique for linear lesions. Here, we present the first use of the novel vHPSD mode alone for catheter ablation in a patient with peri-mitral AT (PMAT).
Case Report:
A 74-year-old man presented with symptomatic AT. An electroanatomic reconstruction of his left atrium showed PMAT with a potential critical isthmus on the anterior wall. Therefore, ablation of an anterior line was performed. The patient’s AT stopped after 10 applications and less than 40 s of radiofrequency (RF) ablation. Afterward, the anterior line was completed with a total of 29 applications of vHPSD and a RF time of 116 s. PVI and blockage of the cavotricuspid isthmus also were performed. The total procedure time was 107 min. No periprocedural complications occurred.
Conclusions:
The present case demonstrates the safety and efficacy of treatment of AT with a novel catheter that delivers vHPSD ablation to an anterior line.
Background
Pulmonary vein stenosis (PVS) is a severe complication of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation resulting in narrowing of affected pulmonary veins (PVs). Interventional treatment consists of angioplasty with or without PV stenting. The optimal postprocedural antithrombotic therapy is not known.
Study aims
To investigate the impact of antithrombotic medical therapy on recurrence of PVS after PV angioplasty.
Methods
A retrospective study of patients undergoing PV angioplasty with or without stent implantation in two German centers was performed. Postinterventional antithrombotic therapy consisted of either dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) or a combination of oral anticoagulation with single or dual antiplatelet therapy for 3–12 months after intervention. Angiographic follow‐up was recommended 3, 6, and 12 months after intervention and in case of symptom recurrence.
Results
Thirty patients underwent treatment of 42 PVS. After intervention, twenty‐eight patients received triple therapy and 14 patients received dual therapy/DAPT; restenosis occurred in 5/22 (22.7%) patients with triple therapy and 8/14 (57.1%) patients with dual therapy/DAPT PV (p = .001). Estimated freedom from PV restenosis after 500 days was 18.8 ± 15.8% (dual therapy/DAPT) and 76.2 ± 10.5% (triple therapy) (p = .003). Univariate regression analysis revealed postprocedural medication as a significant risk factor for restenosis (p = .019). No bleeding events occurred regardless of applied antithrombotic therapy.
Conclusion
Triple antithrombotic therapy after PV angioplasty is associated with less frequent restenosis as compared to dual antiplatelet therapy or a combination of anticoagulation and single antiplatelet therapy. No severe bleeding events occurred in patients on triple therapy. These findings need to be confirmed in larger patient cohorts.
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