2 Material & Methods
A total of 52 patients aged ≥ 18 years, who presented to and/or were
hospitalized in the Abant Izzet Baysal University Medical Faculty,
cardiology outpatient clinic, diagnosed with paroxysmal AF and who were
symptomatic despite at least one antiarrhythmic drug were included in
the study. Two patients were excluded from the study due to
complications developed during and after the procedure. A detailed
physical examination and 12-lead ECG were performed on all patients. All
patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography before the procedure
and transesophageal echocardiography within 48 hours before the
procedure to confirm the absence of left atrial appendage (LAA)
thrombus. Intra- and the inter-atrial electromechanical delay was
studied with tissue Doppler method 3 months after the procedure.
Identification of AF ≥ 30 seconds following the procedure was considered
a failure.
Patients with an acute coronary syndrome, previous myocardial infarction
(MI) and coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, decreased LV
ejection fraction (EF<55%), chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease, significant valvular disease, pacemaker implantation,
hypertension (resting blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mm Hg), diabetes mellitus,
peripheral vascular diseases, respiratory or neurologic disorders,
pericarditis, congenital heart disease, alcohol addiction, renal or
hepatic disease and those with poor echocardiographic imaging were
excluded from the study.
Before the beginning, the study protocol was approved by the local
ethics committee of our hospital. All patients were informed about the
objectives of the study in detail and gave informed signed consent
forms. The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles
of the Declaration of Helsinki.