Does minimally-invasive surgical ablation improve AF freedom compared to catheter ablation in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation?
Minimally-invasive surgical ablation offers higher AF freedom but at the cost of more severe procedural complications compared to catheter ablation in persistent AF.
In persistent AF patients, minimally-invasive surgical ablation is associated with more procedural complications, but higher AF freedom. As adverse events after surgical ablation appear more severe than in catheter ablation, a patient-tailored therapy choice is warranted.
Berger et al. (Thu,) studied this question.