• Christina Alhede, Arne Johannessen, Ulrik Dixen, Jan S Jensen, Pekka Raatikainen, Gerhard Hindricks, Håkan Walfridsson, Ole Kongstad, Steen Pehrson, Anders Englund, Juha Hartikainen, Peter S Hansen, Jens C Nielsen, and Christian Jons.
• Herlev-Gentofte University Hospital, Kildegaardsvej 28, 2900 Hellerup, Denmark.
• Europace. 2018 Jan 1; 20 (1): 50-57.

AimsEarly identification of patients who could benefit from early re-intervention after catheter ablation is highly warranted. Our aim was to investigate the association between post-procedural burden of supraventricular ectopic complexes (SVEC) and the risk of long-term atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence.Methods And ResultsA total of 125 patients undergoing catheter ablation for AF were included. Patients underwent 7-day Holter recordings immediately post-procedural. The number of SVEC in post-procedural Holter recordings was categorized into quartiles: 0-72, 73-212, 213-782 and ≥ 783 SVEC/day. Long-term AF recurrence was defined as a combined endpoint of AF ≥ 1 min during follow-up Holter recordings, cardioversion or hospitalization for AF after a 3-month blanking period and within 24 months of follow-up. High post-procedural supraventricular ectopy burden was associated with an increased risk of long-term AF recurrence in a dose-dependent manner (≥ 783 SVEC: HR 4.6 [1.9-11.5], P < 0.001) irrespective of AF recurrence during the blanking period or other risk factors. In patients with early AF recurrence < 90 days after catheter ablation ectopy burden was also highly predictive of long-term AF recurrence (SVEC ≥ 213: HR 3.0 [1.3-6.7], P = 0.007). Correspondingly, patients with early AF recurrence but low ectopy burden remained at low risk of long-term AF recurrence after the blanking period.ConclusionOur results indicate that post-procedural ectopy burden is highly associated with long-term AF recurrence and could be a potent risk marker for selection of patients for early re-ablation. Development of future ablation risk stratification and strategies should include focus on post-procedural ectopy burden.Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2016. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

30 keywords...

hide…