Mid-term results of the box pulmonary vein isolation and the cryo-maze procedure for chronic atrial fibrillation associated with mitral valve disease

Abstract

The cryo-maze procedure was rather effective for eliminating chronic AF associated with both mitral and tricuspid valve disease, but there were a few cases with new atrial tachycardia. The box pulmonary vein isolation was useful in solitary mitral valve cases.

Safety and efficacy of biatrial vs left atrial surgical ablation during concomitant cardiac surgery: A meta‐analysis of clinical studies with a focus on the causes of pacemaker implantation

“…In 10 studies (35.7%) mitral surgery was the main procedure performed in association with AF ablation, while in the remaining studies various types of main procedures (coronary surgery, valve surgery, aortic surgery, etc) were performed aside of AF ablation. Four studies enrolled only patients rheumatic valve disease (RVD) in both study groups, while 4 more studies reported a variable quota of RVD ranging between 50% and 70% of the population, while in the remaining 20 studies the incidence of RVD was not clearly stated.…”

“…23,35,36 Ten (35.7%) were prospective observational studies, of which two had propensity adjustment. 3,4,21,22,24,25,27,31,32,37 The remaining 15 studies (53.6%) were retrospective observational, of which 3 were propensity adjusted. 5,19,20,26,[28][29][30]33,34,38,39,[44][45][46][47] In 16 studies (57.1%) all the patients enrolled presented exclusively non-paroxysmal AF forms and these studies constituted the "non-paroxysmal AF subgroup."…”

“…5,19,20,26,[28][29][30]33,34,38,39,[44][45][46][47] In 16 studies (57.1%) all the patients enrolled presented exclusively non-paroxysmal AF forms and these studies constituted the "non-paroxysmal AF subgroup." [20][21][22][23][25][26][27][28][34][35][36][37][38][39]46,47 clearly specify the types of AF included. 5 As per protocol, no study with only paroxysmal AF patient was included.…”

“…28,31,32,46 CM3 or CM3 plus RF ablation or cryoablation were used in four studies. 3,4,27,38 Criteria to decide between BA and LA approach were randomization in three RCT, 23,35,36 clinical characteristics (ie, AF duration, LA size) in two studies, 24,32 BA approach when the RA was already open for a right-sided procedure (ie, tricuspid repair) in two studies, 33,37 serial timeframes (from 1994 to 1997 BA and subsequently LA approach) in one study, 38 Instead, for non-randomized studies, the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale score ranged between 5 and 7 for any of the included studies (mean 6.1 ± 0.5): as shown in Supplementary Material S2, none of the studies took a point either for question S3 and S4 since none of these studies had a control group with healthy voluntary patients, limiting the maximum achievable score for any of the included study to 7.…”

Thromboembolic Events 7–11 Years after Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

“…Our study reports a mean FU of 9.1 years (7.7 years to 10.5 years) for 164 patients after catheter ablation at our institution which represents 1,492 PY of FU. There is currently limited long‐term FU data after catheter ablation of AF . Our study includes, to the best of our knowledge, the maximum number of patients followed‐up at a single center beyond 5 years after ablation with outcomes for 178 patients (164 who completed the study requirements and 14 who died during the FU).…”