Skip Navigation

Europace 2006 8(7):495-498; doi:10.1093/europace/eul056
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Neumann, T.
Right arrow Articles by Pitschner, H.-F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Neumann, T.
Right arrow Articles by Pitschner, H.-F.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The European Society of Cardiology 2006. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

FOCUS ON ATRIAL ARRHYTHMIAS

Asymptomatic recurrences of atrial fibrillation after pulmonary vein isolation

Thomas Neumann*, Ali Erdogan, Thorsten Dill, Harald Greiss, Alexander Berkowitsch, Johannes Sperzel, Malte Kuniss, Klaus Kurzidim, Christian W. Hamm and Heinz-Friedrich Pitschner

Department of Cardiology, Kerckhoff Heart Center, Bad Nauheim, Germany

Aims The purpose of this study was to determine the occurrence of asymptomatic episodes of atrial fibrillation (AF) and wrong AF perception after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). We evaluated the success of ablation by using the following measurements: (i) clinical symptoms and duration of symptoms noticed by patients and (ii) synchronous event recording (ER).

Methods and results Eighty patients with paroxysmal AF underwent PVI and were provided repeatedly with a portable ER upon discharge and every 3 months for a year. The ER automatically detects arrhythmias by a detection algorithm and can also be manually triggered by the patient. In 46/80 patients (57.5%), episodes of AF were documented. Asymptomatic AF was detected in 21.3%. In 9/80 patients (11.3%), who reported clinical AF recurrence, no AF could be shown by ER. We compared patients' perception to have suffered AF episodes with the ERs and found a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 92%.

Conclusion Reliance on perception of AF by patients after PVI results in an underestimation of recurrence of the arrhythmia. We observed a maximal occurrence of silent AF or wrong perception of AF in 26/80 (32.6%) patients.

Key Words: Catheter ablation, Event recording, Atrial fibrillation

* Corresponding author: Department of Cardiology/Electrophysiology, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Klinikstraße 35, 35392 Giessen, Germany. Tel: +49 641 9942112, fax: +49 600 3828990. E-mail address: tneuman1{at}aol.com


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Eur Heart J SupplHome page
E. Aliot and J. N. Ruskin
Controversies in ablation of atrial fibrillation
Eur. Heart J. Suppl., September 1, 2008; 10(suppl_H): H32 - H54.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 EuropaceHome page
M. E.W. Hemels, J. H. Ruiter, G. P. Molhoek, N. J.G.M. Veeger, A. C.P. Wiesfeld, A. V. Ranchor, M. van Trigt, A. Pilmeyer, I. C. Van Gelder, and for The Features in AT500TM study; Chances for pat
Right atrial preventive and antitachycardia pacing for prevention of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in patients without bradycardia: a randomized study
Europace, March 1, 2008; 10(3): 306 - 313.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J Am Coll CardiolHome page
W. Moreira, R. Manusama, C. Timmermans, B. Ghaye, S. Philippens, H. J.J. Wellens, and L.-M. Rodriguez
Long-Term Follow-Up After Cryothermic Ostial Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., February 26, 2008; 51(8): 850 - 855.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.