December 1, 2005Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology
Value of Different Follow‐Up Strategies to Assess the Efficacy of Circumferential Pulmonary Vein Ablation for the Curative Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation
Key result
Transtelephonic ECG and serial 7-day Holter were equally effective in determining long-term success after AF ablation, showing freedom from AF in 45% and 50% of patients at 6 months, respectively.
Why the study?
Does transtelephonic ECG every 2 days compared to serial 7-day Holter improve the detection of atrial fibrillation recurrences in patients post-ablation?
Population
30 patients with highly symptomatic atrial fibrillation selected for circumferential pulmonary vein ablation
Comparison
Transtelephonic ECG transmitted once every 2… vs Serial 7-day Holter recorded preablation, after…
Design
Cohort
Follow-up
6 months
Authors
Discussion
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Implication
Supports comparable post-ablation AF detection with either method; hypothesis-generating pending randomized validation.
Study Design
Type
Observational (n=30)
Structured PICO
Does transtelephonic ECG every 2 days compared to serial 7-day Holter improve the detection of atrial fibrillation recurrences in patients post-ablation?
P
Population
30 patients with highly symptomatic atrial fibrillation selected for circumferential pulmonary vein ablation
I
Intervention
Transtelephonic ECG transmitted once every 2 days for 6 months
C
Comparator
Serial 7-day Holter recorded preablation, after ablation, after 3 and 6 months
O
Outcome
Detection of atrial fibrillation recurrences (freedom from AF) at 6 monthssurrogate
Main Result
Absolute Event Rate: 45% vs 50%
Objective rhythm monitoring with either transtelephonic ECG or serial 7-day Holter detects significantly more asymptomatic AF recurrences post-ablation compared to symptom-based follow-up alone.
Cite This Study
Piorkowski et al. (2005) conducted an observational in Highly symptomatic atrial fibrillation (n=30). Transtelephonic ECG every 2 days vs. Serial 7-day Holter was evaluated on Freedom from AF at 6 months. Transtelephonic ECG and serial 7-day Holter were equally effective in determining long-term success after AF ablation, showing freedom from AF in 45% and 50% of patients at 6 months, respectively.