Declarations:
Acknowledgements: N/A
Conflicts of interest/Competing interests: The authors report
no conflict of interest regarding this study.
Funding: This study did not receive financial support
Informed Consent: All participants were informed about the
objectives of the study and signed informed consent forms.
Availability of data and material: All data used in this study
are included in the manuscript.
REFERENCES
1. Crystal E, Connolly SJ. Atrial fibrillation: guiding lessons from
epidemiology. Cardiology clinics. 2004;22(1):1-8.
2. Fuster V, Rydén LE, Cannom DS, Crijns HJ, Curtis AB, Ellenbogen KA et
al. Acc/aha/esc 2006 guidelines for the management of patients with
atrial fibrillation: A report of the american college of
cardiology/american heart association task force on practice guidelines
and the european society of cardiology committee for practice guidelines
(writing committee to revise the 2001 guidelines for the management of
patients with atrial fibrillation): Developed in collaboration with the
european heart rhythm association and the heart rhythm society.
Circulation. 2006;114(7):e257-e354.
3. Members ATF, Camm AJ, Lip GY, De Caterina R, Savelieva I, Atar D et
al. 2012 focused update of the ESC Guidelines for the management of
atrial fibrillation: an update of the 2010 ESC Guidelines for the
management of atrial fibrillation Developed with the special
contribution of the European Heart Rhythm Association. European heart
journal. 2012;33(21):2719-47.
4. Kato T, Yamashita T, Sagara K, Iinuma H, Fu L-T. Progressive nature
of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Circulation Journal.
2004;68(6):568-72.
5. Fujiki A. Progression of atrial fibrillation from paroxysmal to
persistent. Circulation Journal. 2014;78(5):1058-60.
6. Wyse DG, Gersh BJ. Atrial fibrillation: a perspective: thinking
inside and outside the box. Circulation. 2004;109(25):3089-95.
7. Wyse D, Waldo A, DiMarco J, Domanski M, Rosenberg Y, Schron E et al.
Atrial Fibrillation Follow-up Investigation of Rhythm Management I. A
comparison of rate control and rhythm control in patients with atrial
fibrillation. N Engl J Med. 2002;347(23):1825-33.
8. Van Gelder IC, Hagens VE, Bosker HA, Kingma JH, Kamp O, Kingma T et
al. A comparison of rate control and rhythm control in patients with
recurrent persistent atrial fibrillation. New England Journal of
Medicine. 2002;347(23):1834-40.
9. Hsu L-F, Jaïs P, Sanders P, Garrigue S, Hocini M, Sacher F et al.
Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation in congestive heart failure.
New England Journal of Medicine. 2004;351(23):2373-83.
10. Khan MN, Jaïs P, Cummings J, Di Biase L, Sanders P, Martin DO et al.
Pulmonary-vein isolation for atrial fibrillation in patients with heart
failure. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359(17):1778-85.
11. Wilber DJ, Pappone C, Neuzil P, De Paola A, Marchlinski F, Natale A
et al. Comparison of antiarrhythmic drug therapy and radiofrequency
catheter ablation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: a
randomized controlled trial. Jama. 2010;303(4):333-40.
12. Pappone C, Augello G, Sala S, Gugliotta F, Vicedomini G, Gulletta S
et al. A randomized trial of circumferential pulmonary vein ablation
versus antiarrhythmic drug therapy in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation:
the APAF Study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
2006;48(11):2340-7.
13. Camm AJ, Kirchhof P, Lip GY, Schotten U, Savelieva I, Ernst S et al.
Erratum: Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation (European
Heart Journal (2010) 31 (2369-2429)). European Heart Journal.
2011;32(9):1172.
14. Calkins H, Brugada J, Packer DL, Cappato R, Chen S-A, Crijns HJ et
al. HRS/EHRA/ECAS Expert Consensus Statement on Catheter and Surgical
Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation: Recommendations for Personnel, Policy,
Procedures and Follow-Up: A report of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS)
Task Force on Catheter and Surgical Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation
Developed in partnership with the European Heart Rhythm Association
(EHRA) and the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society (ECAS); in
collaboration with the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American
Heart Association (AHA), and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS).
Endorsed and Approved by the governing bodies of the American College of
Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the European Cardiac
Arrhythmia Society, the European Heart Rhythm Association, the Society
of Thoracic Surgeons, and the Heart Rhythm Society. Europace.
2007;9(6):335-79.
15. Allessie M, Ausma J, Schotten U. Electrical, contractile and
structural remodeling during atrial fibrillation. Cardiovascular
research. 2002;54(2):230-46.
16. Shiroshita-Takeshita A, Brundel BJ, Nattel S. Atrial fibrillation:
basic mechanisms, remodeling and triggers. Journal of Interventional
Cardiac Electrophysiology. 2005;13(3):181-93.
17. Kopecky SL, Gersh BJ, McGoon MD, Whisnant JP, Holmes Jr DR, Ilstrup
DM et al. The natural history of lone atrial fibrillation. New England
Journal of Medicine. 1987;317(11):669-74.
18. Haissaguerre M, Jaïs P, Shah DC, Takahashi A, Hocini M, Quiniou G et
al. Spontaneous initiation of atrial fibrillation by ectopic beats
originating in the pulmonary veins. New England Journal of Medicine.
1998;339(10):659-66.
19. Rein AJ, O’Donnell CP, Colan SD, Marx GR. Tissue velocity Doppler
assessment of atrial and ventricular electromechanical coupling and
atrioventricular time intervals in normal subjects. The American journal
of cardiology. 2003;92(11):1347-50.
20. Deniz A, Yavuz B, Ciftci O. Left atrial conduction time detected by
tissue Doppler imaging increases in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation
patients. Clin Cardiol. 2006;29(suppl):III-27.
21. Ausma J, Wijffels M, Thoné F, Wouters L, Allessie M, Borgers M.
Structural changes of atrial myocardium due to sustained atrial
fibrillation in the goat. Circulation. 1997;96(9):3157-63.
22. Platonov P, Yuan S, Hertervig E, Kongstad O, Roijer A, Vygovsky A et
al. Further evidence of localized posterior interatrial conduction delay
in lone paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. EP Europace. 2001;3(2):100-7.
23. Simpson Jr RJ, Amara I, Foster JR, Woelfel A, Gettes LS. Thresholds,
refractory periods, and conduction times of the normal and diseased
human atrium. American Heart Journal. 1988;116(4):1080-90.
24. Wijffels MC, Kirchhof CJ, Dorland R, Allessie MA. Atrial
fibrillation begets atrial fibrillation: a study in awake chronically
instrumented goats. Circulation. 1995;92(7):1954-68.
25. Deniz A, Yavuz B, Aytemir K, Hayran M, Kose S, Okutucu S et al.
Intra‐left atrial mechanical delay detected by tissue Doppler
echocardiography can be a useful marker for paroxysmal atrial
fibrillation. Echocardiography. 2009;26(7):779-84.
26. Kumagai K, Akimitsu S, Kawahira K, Kawanami F, Yamanouchi Y, Hiroki
T et al. Electrophysiological properties in chronic lone atrial
fibrillation. Circulation. 1991;84(4):1662-8.
27. Evranos B, Aytemir K, Oto A, Okutucu S, Karakulak U, Şahiner L et
al. Predictors of atrial fibrillation recurrence after atrial
fibrillation ablation with cryoballoon. Cardiology journal.
2013;20(3):294-303.
28. Wilhelm M, Kirste W, Kuly S, Amann K, Neuhuber W, Weyand M et al.
Atrial distribution of connexin 40 and 43 in patients with intermittent,
persistent, and postoperative atrial fibrillation. Heart, Lung and
Circulation. 2006;15(1):30-7.
29. Fisher JD, Spinelli MA, Mookherjee D, Krumerman AK, Palma EC. Atrial
fibrillation ablation: reaching the mainstream. Pacing and clinical
electrophysiology. 2006;29(5):523-37.
30. Cappato R, Calkins H, Chen S-A, Davies W, Iesaka Y, Kalman J et al.
Worldwide survey on the methods, efficacy, and safety of catheter
ablation for human atrial fibrillation. Circulation. 2005;111(9):1100-5.
31. Burstein B, Qi X-Y, Yeh Y-H, Calderone A, Nattel S. Atrial
cardiomyocyte tachycardia alters cardiac fibroblast function: a novel
consideration in atrial remodeling. Cardiovascular research.
2007;76(3):442-52.
32. Curtis AB, Narasimha D. Arrhythmias in women. Clinical cardiology.
2012;35(3):166-71.
TABLES
Table 1. Basal echocardiographic findings of the patients.