Peri-procedural CVE
The incidence of peri-procedural CVE in the total cohort was 0.1%
(1/637). While none of the patients in the pre-COVID cohort had CVE, 1
patient in the post-COVID cohort developed CVE. This patient presented
in AF at the time of ablation and pre-ablation CT was unremarkable;
therefore, TEE was not performed prior to ablation (Figure 4; clinical
and procedural details are provided in Table 3). He underwent CB
ablation for persistent AF, with minimally interrupted DOAC therapy
(single dose of apixaban held) and developed stroke on the day after
ablation. Brain MRI revealed an acute infarct in the posterior cerebral
arterial territory. The proportion of CVE between pre vs. post-COVID
cohort remained comparable (0 vs. 0.4%, p=0.33) (Figure 5).