<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold>Background:</bold> Atrial fibrillation (AF), a common arrhythmia in clinical practice, is associated with a high rate of complications and an increased risk for thromboembolic events. Pulmonary vein ablation is a new therapeutic option to cure AF; however, it remains associated with a high rate of recurrence. In this study we aimed to identify the clinical characteristics and imaging-based features that may predict the risk of recurrence after pulmonary veins ablation in atrial fibrillation.<bold>Materials and method:</bold> Twenty-four patients with paroxysmal and persistent AF, who underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation and a 12-month follow-up were included in the study. Group 1 included 8 patients with AF recurrence, and group 2 included 16 patients with no AF recurrence. In all cases, cardiovascular risk factors, ejection fraction, left atrial diameter, atrial volumes, and epicardial fat volume were analyzed.<bold>Results:</bold> CT analysis revealed that patients with AF recurrence presented a significantly larger mean index of left atrial volume (59.57 ± 8.52 mL/m2 vs. 49.99 ± 10.88 mL/m2, p = 0.04), right atrial volume (58.94 ± 8.37 mL/m2 vs. 43.21 ± 6.4 mL/m2, p&lt;0.0001), and indexed bi-atrial volume (118.5 ± 15.82 mL/m2 vs. 93.19 ± 16.42 mL/m2, p = 0.005). At the same time, CT analysis of the epicardial adipose tissue volume indicated that patients with AF recurrence have a larger amount of epicardial fat than those without AF recurrence (176.4 ± 100.8 mL vs. 109.8 ± 40.73 mL, p = 0.02).<bold>Conclusion:</bold> Left atrial diameter, indexed atrial volumes, and epicardial fat volume may be used as factors to identify patients at risk for developing recurrence after pulmonary vein ablation.</abstract>

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF), a common arrhythmia in clinical practice, is associated with a high rate of complications and an increased risk for thromboembolic events. Pulmonary vein ablation is a new therapeutic option to cure AF; however, it remains associated with a high rate of recurrence. In this study we aimed to identify the clinical characteristics and imaging-based features that may predict the risk of recurrence after pulmonary veins ablation in atrial fibrillation.Materials and method: Twenty-four patients with paroxysmal and persistent AF, who underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation and a 12-month follow-up were included in the study. Group 1 included 8 patients with AF recurrence, and group 2 included 16 patients with no AF recurrence. In all cases, cardiovascular risk factors, ejection fraction, left atrial diameter, atrial volumes, and epicardial fat volume were analyzed.Results: CT analysis revealed that patients with AF recurrence presented a significantly larger mean index of left atrial volume (59.57 ± 8.52 mL/m2 vs. 49.99 ± 10.88 mL/m2, p = 0.04), right atrial volume (58.94 ± 8.37 mL/m2 vs. 43.21 ± 6.4 mL/m2, p<0.0001), and indexed bi-atrial volume (118.5 ± 15.82 mL/m2 vs. 93.19 ± 16.42 mL/m2, p = 0.005). At the same time, CT analysis of the epicardial adipose tissue volume indicated that patients with AF recurrence have a larger amount of epicardial fat than those without AF recurrence (176.4 ± 100.8 mL vs. 109.8 ± 40.73 mL, p = 0.02).Conclusion: Left atrial diameter, indexed atrial volumes, and epicardial fat volume may be used as factors to identify patients at risk for developing recurrence after pulmonary vein ablation.

Epicardial Fat Volume as a New Imaging-Based Feature Associated with Risk of Recurrence after Pulmonary Veins Ablation in Atrial Fibrillation

“George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology

Journal of Interdisciplinary Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF), a common arrhythmia in clinical practice, is associated with a high rate of complications and an increased risk for...

Epicardial Fat Volume as a New Imaging-Based Feature Associated with Risk of Recurrence after Pulmonary Veins Ablation in Atrial Fibrillation

Published Online: Jul 06, 2020

Page range: 65 - 70

Received: Apr 04, 2020

Accepted: May 18, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jim-2020-0012

Keywords
AF recurrence, pulmonary vein ablation, indexed atrial volumes, epicardial adipose tissue

© 2020 Emanuel Blîndu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Epicardial Fat Volume as a New Imaging-Based Feature Associated with Risk of Recurrence after Pulmonary Veins Ablation in Atrial Fibrillation

Published Online: Jul 06, 2020

Page range: 65 - 70

Received: Apr 04, 2020

Accepted: May 18, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jim-2020-0012

KeywordsAF recurrence, pulmonary vein ablation, indexed atrial volumes, epicardial adipose tissue

© 2020 Emanuel Blîndu et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
AF recurrence, pulmonary vein ablation, indexed atrial volumes, epicardial adipose tissue