Mechanical function of left atrium and pulmonary vein sleeves before and after their antrum isolation.

Background And Objective: Pulmonary vein (PV) sleeves are established as the main substrate taking part in the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation (AF) initiation. However, we have extremely few data concerning their physiological role in the heart contractility. The aim of the study was to estimate the mechanical function of the left atrium (LA) and PV sleeves before and early after their isolation.

Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation after an unsuccessful surgical ablation and biological prosthetic mitral valve replacement: a pilot study.

Background: Patients with mitral valve (MV) disease and atrial fibrillation (AF) undergo simultaneous prosthetic valve replacement and radiofrequency (RF) ablation procedure; however, this combinational procedure restores sinus rhythm (SR) in only 68-82% of the cases. In patients with ineffective surgical ablation, the use of a biological prosthetic valve might not only be a good choice to perform safe catheter ablation procedure in the left atrium (LA), but also provide a way to discontinue administration of oral anticoagulants. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of catheter ablation for AF after MV replacement with a biological prosthesis and an ineffective surgical ablation procedure.

'Electrical exclusion' of a critical myocardial mass by extended pulmonary vein antrum isolation for persistent atrial fibrillation treatment.

Unlabelled: The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy of pulmonary vein antrum isolation (PVAI), extended PVAI and ganglionic plexi (GP) ablation in persistent AF.

Methods: One hundred and twenty patients 56.2 ± 8.