AF

The past 3 decades have been characterized by an exponential growth in knowledge and advances in the clinical treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). It is now known that AF genesis requires a vulnerable atrial substrate and that the formation and composition of this substrate may vary depending on comorbid conditions, genetics, sex, and other factors. Population-based studies have identified numerous factors that modify the atrial substrate and increase AF susceptibility. To date, genetic studies have reported 17 independent signals for AF at 14 genomic regions...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia and its treatment continues to be a challenge. Recently, delayed enhancement (DE)-MRI was introduced in the diagnosis and treatment of AF by the assessment of atrial fibrosis, which is considered the hallmark of the arrhythmogenic substrate in AF. Atrial fibrosis was reported to be an independent predictor of arrhythmia recurrences. Post-ablation DE-MRI allows for assessment of the total scar burden, complete encirclement of pulmonary veins, and the assessment of residual fibrosis, which were all reported to be strong predictors of arrhythmia recurrences post-ablation...

AIMS: Substantial portion of early arrhythmia recurrence after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is considered to be due to irritability in left atrium (LA) from the ablation procedure. We sought to evaluate whether 90-day use of antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) following AF ablation could reduce the incidence of early arrhythmia recurrence and thereby promote reverse remodelling of LA, leading to improved long-term clinical outcomes. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 2038 patients who had undergone radiofrequency catheter ablation for paroxysmal, persistent, or long-lasting AF were randomly assigned to either 90-day use of Vaughan Williams class I or III AAD (1016 patients) or control (1022 patients) group...

BACKGROUND: The Maze procedure is effective in restoring sinus rhythm, but the extensive procedure may have negative effects on atrial mechanical function. Decreased atrial contractility has been observed early after the Maze procedure. The purpose of this study was to determine the long-term effect of the Maze procedure on atrial size and mechanical function. METHODS: Fifty-two patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation, without structural heart or valvular disease, underwent the Cox Maze III procedure...

BACKGROUND: The Cox-Maze procedure (CMP) has achieved high success rates in the therapy of atrial fibrillation (AF) while becoming progressively less invasive. This report evaluates our experience with the CMP in the treatment of lone AF over 2 decades and compares the original cut-and-sew CMP-III to the ablation-assisted CMP-IV, which uses bipolar radiofrequency and cryoenergy to create the original lesion pattern. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were collected prospectively on 212 consecutive patients (mean age, 53...

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