Study reports catheter ablation is more effective in preventing AFrecurrence
Atrial Fibrillation Thursday, June 27th, 2013News-medical: June 25, 2013
Using catheter ablation to create complete linear lesions around pulmonary veins, proved more effective than the creation of incomplete lesions in preventing recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF), reports the GAP-AF study. The study, presented today in the Late Breaking Clinical Trials session I at the EHRA EUROPACE 2013 meeting in Athens, Greece, represents the first time that a randomized controlled study has been undertaken comparing the two different ablation strategies for patients with paroxysmal AF.
Identification of triggers initiating AF within the pulmonary veins led to prevention of AF recurrence by catheter ablation at the site of origin of the trigger. The Heart Rhythm Society /European Heart Rhythm Association/European Society of CardiologyExpert Consensus Document on Catheter and Surgical Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation (published in 2007 and updated in 2012) states that patients undergoing catheter ablation for AF should have complete isolation of the pulmonary veins, which involves a complete circumferential lesion being created around the pulmonary vein.Read More
