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.