Pulmonary Vein Isolation Outcome Degree Is a New Score for Efficacy of Atrial Fibrillation Catheter Ablation

This study introduces the pulmonary vein isolation outcome degree (PVIOD) as a new semiquantitative measure for the efficacy of atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation and reports the determination of predictors associated with PVIOD. The median follow-up periods of 117 patients after the first and last ablation were, respectively, 82 (IQR 15) and 72 (IQR 30) months. PVIOD 1 included 32.5% of patients, those with successful single pulmonary vein isolation (PVI); PVIOD 2 included 29.1% of subjects, those with success after multiple procedures; PVIOD 3 comprised 14.5% of patients, those with clinical success; and PVIOD 4 included 23.9% of cases, those with procedural and clinical failure. In the multivariate ordinal logistic regression analysis, PVIOD 1-4 were independently associated with longstanding persistent AF with paroxysmal AF as the referent category (odds ratio (OR), 3.5; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.1-10.7 (p = 0.031)), left atrial (LA) diameter (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3 (p = 0.001)) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (OR, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.86-1.0 (p = 0.038)). LA size > 41 mm, LVEF <= 50% and longstanding persistent AF are strong predictors of AF recurrence. PVIOD 1-4 offer the most exact long-term prognosis of PVI. The purpose of the present article is to expand the quantitative measure of procedural success in the medical and biological fields.

Automated summary

This study introduces PVIOD as a new semiquantitative measure for AF catheter ablation efficacy, and identifies longstanding persistent AF, left atrial diameter, and left ventricular ejection fraction as independent predictors associated with PVIOD.