Second generation Cryoballoon Advance ablation yielded higher freedom from atrial fibrillation off antiarrhythmic drugs at 12 months compared to the first generation device (78% vs 58%, P=0.03).
Cohort (n=100)
No
Does second generation Cryoballoon ablation improve freedom from AF compared to first generation Cryoballoon in patients with paroxysmal AF?
Second-generation cryoballoon ablation significantly improves 12-month freedom from atrial fibrillation compared to the first-generation device in patients with paroxysmal AF.
Absolute Event Rate: 78% vs 58%
p-value: p=0.03
BACKGROUND: With respect to the first generation Cryoballoon (CB), the second generation (Cryoballoon Advance CB-A, Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA) was designed with technical modifications resulting in a larger and more uniform zone of freezing on the balloon's surface aiming at procedural outcome improvement in the setting of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. However, a comparison between both technologies on a midterm follow-up is missing in today's literature. METHODS: A total of 100 patients (the last 50 patients with the first generation CB and the first 50 patients with the second generation CB-A upon its inception in our center) having undergone a single CB ablation for paroxysmal AF (PAF) and having completed a 12-month follow-up, were consecutively included in our study. Freedom from AF off-antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) after a single procedure was 78% (39/50) in CB-A and 58% (29/50) in the CB group (P = 0.03) during the whole follow-up duration. Considering a blanking period of 3 months, freedom from AF off-AAD was achieved in 84% (42/50) in CB-A, while 66% (33/50) were free from recurrence in the CB group (P = 0.038). Right phrenic nerve palsy (PNP) occurred in 8 patients (16%) in CB-A group and in 4 patients (8%) in the CB group. CONCLUSION: Freedom from AF on 12 months follow-up was significantly higher in the CB-A group with respect to the first generation device. The most frequent complication observed was PNP.
Giovanni et al. (Tue,) conducted a cohort in Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) (n=100). Second generation Cryoballoon Advance (CB-A) vs. First generation Cryoballoon (CB) was evaluated on Freedom from AF off-antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) after a single procedure during the whole follow-up duration (p=0.03). Second generation Cryoballoon Advance ablation yielded higher freedom from atrial fibrillation off antiarrhythmic drugs at 12 months compared to the first generation device (78% vs 58%, P=0.03).