Key result
Maintenance of sinus rhythm after successful catheter ablation significantly improved exercise performance (increasing METs from 10.2 to 11.6), enhanced quality of life, and decreased plasma BNP levels in patients with asymptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation.
Why the study?
Does catheter ablation improve quality of life, exercise performance, and BNP levels in patients with asymptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation?
Observational (n=34)
No
Does catheter ablation improve quality of life, exercise performance, and BNP levels in patients with asymptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation?
Absolute Event Rate: 11.6% vs 10.2%
p-value: p=<0.0001
Successful catheter ablation in patients with asymptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation improves quality of life, exercise capacity, and BNP levels, suggesting these patients have unrecognized baseline impairment.
Sinus rhythm maintenance after ablation was associated with gains in exercise capacity and QoL in asymptomatic persistent AF; hypothesis-generating and requires randomized trials before practice change.
BACKGROUND: Efficacy of catheter ablation (CA) of asymptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) remains unclear. We assessed the quality of life (QOL), exercise performance (EP), and plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels following CA in patients with asymptomatic AF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We enrolled 34 patients with asymptomatic persistent AF. QOL, was assessed by 2 questionnaires: the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and a QOL questionnaire specific for AF (AFQLQ). The QOL, EP, and plasma BNP level were examined before and 6 months after CA. In the SF-36 survey 5 of 8 components and all 3 subsets of the AFQLQ significantly improved in the patients without recurrences (30 patients, 88%), but there were no differences in those with recurrences. In patients without recurrences, there was an increase in the metabolic equivalents of task (10.2±2.3 vs. 11.6±2.3 METs, P<0.0001), duration of maximal exercise (476±144 vs. 605±143 s, P<0.0001), and plasma BNP decrease (146.6±124.3 vs. 33.8±35.6 pg/dL, P<0.0001), with a linear correlation in the increased duration of exercise and plasma BNP decrease (R=0.620, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Maintenance of sinus rhythm after successful CA improved the QOL, EP, and plasma BNP level in patients with asymptomatic persistent AF. CA may be primarily applicable in such patients with previously unrecognized impairment in their QOL and EP.
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Yagishita et al. (2017) conducted an observational in Asymptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation (n=34). Catheter ablation vs. Baseline (pre-ablation) was evaluated on Metabolic equivalents of task (METs) in patients without recurrences (p=<0.0001). Maintenance of sinus rhythm after successful catheter ablation significantly improved exercise performance (increasing METs from 10.2 to 11.6), enhanced quality of life, and decreased plasma BNP levels in patients with asymptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation.
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