Symptomatic and asymptomatic atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation.

Introduction: The goals of this study were to (i) evaluate the feasibility and results of monitoring patients prior to and following catheter ablation of AF with the mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry (MCOT) system and to (ii) correlate symptoms and the presence or absence of atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods And Results: A total of 19 consecutive patients (12 men [63%]; age 60 +/- 6 years) with highly symptomatic drug refractory AF underwent catheter ablation. Each was provided with a MCOT monitor (CardioNet, USA) and asked to wear it 5 days immediately before the ablation, and 5 days per month starting with the ablation for 6 consecutive months.