WOMEN HAVE A HIGHER COMPLICATION RATE WHEN UNDERGOING ABLATION FOR ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

Left Atrial Anatomy in Patients Undergoing Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: Left atrial anatomy is highly variable, asymmetric, irregular and three-dimensionally unique. This variability can affect the outcome of atrial ablation. A catalog of anatomic varieties may aid patient selection and ablation approach and provide better tools for left atrial ablation. Methods: We analyzed computed tomography scans from 514 patients undergoing left atrial ablation. Im...

Outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation is common among older persons. Catheter ablation is increasingly used in patients for whom medical therapy has failed. METHODS AND RESULTS We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries ≥65 years of age who underwent catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation between July 1, 2007, and December 31, 2009. The main outcome me...

Linear ablation for atrial fibrillation: have we come full circle?.

The evolution of effective and broadly applicable strategies for percutaneous ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) has followed a complex course over the past decade. In 1994, Swartz et al. (1) reported successful percutaneous ablation of AF with multiple long linear lesions. Conceived as a replication of the surgical MAZE, the procedure deployed specifically tailored long sheaths to facilitate...

Cryoballoon ablation for atrial fibrillation

2014 Pulmonary vein (PV) isolation is the cornerstone of ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation. The majority of procedures are still performed using radiofrequency (RF) energy and a point-by-point ablation approach. Novel ‘single shot’ ablation tools with the aim of creating a circumferential lesion around the PVs with a single or a limited number of energy applications emerge. The currently...

Radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation