The prognostic outcome of Atypical Atrial Flutter following a single
electrophysiology study and ablation
Abstract
Background: Atypical Atrial Flutter (AAFL) prevalence is
increasing due to the escalating Atrial Fibrillation (AF) ablations and
cardiac surgeries. We wanted to explore the outcome of the AAFL
ablation, considering the recent changes in mapping and ablation.
Methods: This study was approved by the Institutional Review
Board (IRB) of Mayo Clinic hospital. We retrospectively studied 419
patients who had undergone AAFL ablation at Mayo Clinic from January
2017 to June 2022. Thirteen patients declined research authorization,
and 19 patients were lost to follow-up during the 90-day blanking
period, resulting in a sample size of 387. The median follow-up time for
patients was 25.7 months (95% CI 23.7, 32.3). Results:
Recurrent symptoms with documentation of atrial arrhythmia Occurred in
226/387 (58.4%) patients, of which 151/226 (66.8%) occurred within the
first year. The median time to recurrence was 8.5 months (max 57.8
months). Eleven patients died during the study period, 9 of whom
experienced recurrence prior to death. Overall, the median
recurrence-free survival (RFS) time was 16.6 months (95% CI 13.2, 20.0)
with a 1-year RFS rate of 57.2% (95% CI 52.2, 62.7%). Acute
termination occurred 324/387 (83.7%) during the ablation. The 1-year
RFS rate was 58.9% (95% CI 53.5%, 64.9%) for patients with acute
termination and 49.0% (95% CI 37.9%, 63.4%) for those without acute
termination. The rate was not significantly different based on acute
termination status (p = 0.11). Conclusions: The one-year RFS
rate of 57.2% following AAFL ablation, even though 83.7% achieved
acute termination during the procedure, signifies the extent of the
underlying substrate abnormalities.