Comparison of catheter ablation and surgical ablation in patients with long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation and rheumatic heart disease: A four-year follow-up study

Concomitant Unipolar Radiofrequency Ablation of Nonparoxysmal Atrial Fibrillation in Rheumatic and Degenerative Valve Disease

“…The proportion of our patients in SR at discharge (71%) was similar to previous reports . When we consider the underlying etiology, the rate of SR at discharge was significantly higher for DVD (84.1% vs. 59.6%, p = 0.009).…”

“…The most recent study reported a rate of maintenance of SR of 60% at long‐term follow‐up (mean 54 months) for patients with longstanding AF and RHD after surgical RF ablation . The same success rate (60%) had already been reported at four‐year follow‐up …”

Radiofrequency Ablation of Left Atrial Reentrant Tachycardias in Rheumatic Mitral Valve Disease: A Case Series

“…LA tachycardias related to scar following prior RFA or atriotomy for MVR has been described previously . Chen et al .…”

Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in Chronic Heart Failure: A Contemporary Review

“…Fourteen studies were finally selected, with one study in particular including patients with tachycardiomyopathy (TCM), eight studies including patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), and five studies including patients with valvular cardiomyopathy. [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56] Observational studies. As detailed in Table 1, observational studies included 1,504 patients.…”

“…Three of them, which included patients with prior cardiac valvular surgery or previous percutaneous interventions for mitral rheumatic stenosis, reported a very limited efficacy after a single procedure that increased to 70% when repeat procedures-more than half of the total-were included. 53,55,56 In fact, the peculiar electroanatomical atrial substrate determined by rheumatic heart disease is characterized by profound structural remodeling, extensive fibrosis and collagen replacement, requiring consequently extreme substrate modification to achieve stable SR. 67,68 Of note, the prevalence of persistent AF among the included population was relatively high, and this may have influenced the considerable prevalence of LA extensive ablation protocols. Indeed, CHF patients, and even more so patients with HCM or valvular disease, present significant structural remodeling, resulting in a higher risk of persistent AF development as compared with ''lone'' AF.…”