Background-Pulmonary veins (PVs) can be completely isolated with continuous circular lesions (CCLs) around the ipsilateral PVs. However, electrophysiological findings have not been described in detail during ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods and Results-Forty patients with symptomatic persistent AF underwent complete isolation of the right-sided and left-sided ipsilateral PVs guided by 3D mapping and double Lasso technique during AF. Irrigated ablation was initially performed in the right-sided CCLs and subsequently in the left-sided CCLs. After complete isolation of both lateral PVs, stable sinus rhythm was achieved after AF termination in 12 patients; AF persisted and required cardioversion in 18 patients. In the remaining 10 patients, AF changed to left macroreentrant atrial tachycardia in 6 and common-type atrial flutter in 4 patients. All atrial tachycardias were successfully terminated during the procedure. Atrial tachyarrhythmias recurred in 15 of 40 patients at a median of 4 days after the initial ablation. A repeat ablation was performed at a median of 35 days after the initial procedure in 14 patients. During the repeat study, recovered PV conduction was found in 13 patients and successfully abolished by focal ablation of the conduction gap of the previous CCLs. After a mean of 8Ϯ2 months of follow-up, 38 (95%) of the 40 patients were free of AF. Conclusions-In patients with persistent AF, CCLs can result in either AF termination or conversion to macroreentrant atrial tachycardia in 55% of the patients. In addition, recovered PV conduction after the initial procedure is a dominant finding in recurrent atrial tachyarrhythmias and can be successfully abolished. (Circulation. 2005;112:3038-3048.)

Atrial fibrosis as defined by DE MRI is associated with slower and more organized electrical activity but with lower voltage than healthy atrial areas. Ninety percent of continuous CFAE sites occur at non-DE and patchy DE LA sites. These findings are important when choosing the ablation strategy in persistent AF.

Background-Atrial tachyarrhythmias (ATa) can recur after continuous circular lesions (CCLs) around the ipsilateral pulmonary veins (PVs) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). This study characterizes the electrophysiological findings in patients with and without ATa after complete PV isolation. Methods and Results-Twenty-nine of 100 patients had recurrent ATa after complete PV isolation by use of CCLs during a mean follow-up of Ϸ8 months. A repeat procedure was performed in 26 patients with ATa and in 7 volunteers without ATa at 3 to 4 months after CCLs. No recovered PV conduction was demonstrated in the 7 volunteers, whereas recovered PV conduction was found in 21 patients with recurrent ATa (right-sided PVs in 9 patients and left-sided PVs in 16 patients). The interval from the onset of the P wave to the earliest PV spike was 157Ϯ66 ms in the right-sided PVs and 149Ϯ45 ms in the left-sided PVs. During the procedure, PV tachycardia activated the atrium and resulted in atrial tachycardia (AT) in 10 patients. All conduction gaps were successfully closed with segmental RF ablation. After PV isolation, macroreentrant AT was induced and ablated in 3 patients. In the 5 patients without PV conduction, focal AT in the left atrial roof in 2 patients and non-PV foci in the left atrium in 1 patient were successfully abolished; in the remaining 2 patients, no ablation was performed because of noninducible arrhythmias. During a mean follow-up of Ϸ6 months, 24 patients were free of ATa without antiarrhythmic drugs. Conclusions-In patients with recurrent ATa after CCLs, recovered PV conduction is a dominant finding in Ϸ80% of patients and can be successfully eliminated by segmental RF ablation. Also, mapping and ablation of non-PV arrhythmias can improve clinical success. (Circulation. 2005;111:127-135.)

Background Complex fractionated electrograms (CFAE) are targets of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. Serial high density maps were evaluated to understand the impact of activation direction and rate on electrogram (EGM) fractionation. Methods and Results 18 patients (9 persistent) underwent high density, 3D, left atrial mapping (>400 points/map) during AF, Sinus (SR) and CS-paced (CSp) rhythms. In SR and CSp, fractionation was defined as EGM with ≥4 deflections, while in AF CFEmean <80ms was considered as continuous CFAE. The anatomic distribution of CFAE sites was assessed, quantified and correlated between rhythms. Mechanisms underlying fractionation were investigated by analysis of voltage, activation and propagation maps. A minority of continuous CFAE sites displayed EGM fractionation in SR (15+/−4%) and CSp (12+/(12+/−8%). EGM fractionation did not match between SR and CSp at 70+/−10% sites. Activation maps in SR and CSp showed that wave collision (71%) and regional slow conduction (24%) caused EGM fractionation. EGM voltage during AF (0.59+/−0.58mV) was lower than during SR and CSp (>1.0mV) at all sites. During AF, the EGM voltage was higher at continuous CFAE sites than at non-CFAE sites (0.53mV (Q1, Q3: 0.33–0.83) vs. 0.30 mV (Q1, Q3: 0.18–0.515), p<0.00001). Global LA voltage in AF was lower in persistent vs. paroxysmal AF patients (0.6+/−0.59mV vs. 1.12+/−1.32mV, p<0.01). Conclusions The distribution of fractionated EGMs is highly variable, depending on direction and rate of activation (SR vs. CSp vs. AF). Fractionation in sinus and CSp rhythms mostly resulted from wave collision. All sites with continuous fractionation in AF displayed normal voltage in SR suggesting absence of structural scar. Thus, many fractionated EGMs are functional in nature and their sites dynamic.

When PV isolation is the endpoint of CPVA, the efficacy of the A-CPVA approach is better than that of M-CPVA.

For catheter ablation of persistent AF, the '2C3L' strategy is a fixed approach associated with clinical efficacy similar to that of the 'stepwise' approach but with less RF delivery, fewer X-ray exposure, and shorter procedural time.

Background— The remote magnetic navigation system (MNS) has been used with a nonirrigated magnetic catheter for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficiency of the newly available irrigated tip magnetic catheter for index pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in patients with paroxysmal AF (PAF). Methods and Results— Between January 2008 and June 2009, 30 consecutive patients with drug-resistant PAF underwent circular mapping catheter-guided PVI with MNS (MNS group). The outcomes were compared retrospectively with those of a conventional hand-controlled ablation technique during the same period in 44 consecutive patients (manual group). All 4 pulmonary veins were successfully isolated in both groups except in 4 patients in the MNS group. Radiofrequency and procedure duration were higher in the MNS group (60±27 versus 43±16 minutes; P =0.0019) than in the manual group (246±50 versus 153±51 minutes; P <0.0001). In the patients who underwent only PVI, total fluoroscopic time also was longer in the MNS group than in the manual group (58±24 versus 40±14 minutes; P =0.0002). At 12-month follow-up after a single procedure, 69.0% of the patients in MNS group and 61.8% of patients in manual group were free of atrial tachyarrhythmia without antiarrhythmic drugs. There was no significant difference in the atrial tachyarrhythmia-free survival between the 2 groups ( P =0.961). Cardiac tamponade occurred in 1 patient in the manual group. Conclusions— In patients with PAF, MNS-guided PVI with the newly available irrigated tip magnetic catheter backed up with manual ablation whenever required is feasible. However, it requires longer ablation, fluoroscopy, and procedural times than the conventional approach in the early experience stage.

This prospective multicenter series shows a high success rate of ECM in accurately diagnosing the mechanism of AT and the location of focal arrhythmia. Intraprocedural use of the system and its application to atrial fibrillation mapping is under way.