Repeat ablation strategies in atrial fibrillation patients with durably
isolated pulmonary veins: insights on real-world practices from the
Netherlands Heart Registration
Abstract
Background and Aims: In 15-40% of patients undergoing repeat
ablation for AF recurrence, all pulmonary veins (PVs) are durably
isolated. Currently, there is limited evidence on the appropriate
treatment strategy for these patients. Our aim was to characterize and
compare the effectiveness of different re-ablation strategies.
Methods: All patients referred for repeat AF ablation with all
PVs durably isolated at 8 hospitals in the Netherlands were included
[Netherlands-Heart-Registration (NHR); 2016-2019]. NHR data was used
to determine the presence of PV-reconnection, ablation strategy used,
and the outcome of ablation (atrial arrhythmia recurrence >
30 sec.). Effectiveness of ablation strategies were assessed with
multivariable Cox models. Results: Of 2311 repeat AF ablations
performed, 274 (11.9%) patients had all PVs durably isolated. Median
age was 66 (IQR:58-70) years, 44.2% women, 45.6% had
persistent/long-standing-persistent AF. In 33 (12.0%) patients no
ablation was performed. Single ablation strategy was performed most
often (41.2%). Posterior wall ablation (58.4%) was performed most
often, followed by PV-antralization (26.3%). Over 2.0 (1.0-3.3) years,
147 (59.8%) patients had an atrial arrhythmia recurrence and 30
(12.7%) patients had another repeat AF ablation within 1 year. After
multivariable adjustment, no difference in atrial-arrhythmia recurrences
was detected between individual ablation strategies, number of
strategies performed, and type of atrial-arrhythmia (p>0.05
for all). Left-atrial-size was associated with a higher recurrence-risk
[aHR 1.03(95%CI 1.01-1.05)]. Conclusion: In patients with
durably isolated PVs, a high proportion experienced recurrence of
atrial-arrhythmias, with no difference in recurrence rates between
different re-ablation strategies.