Standing on the ledge: atrial fibrillation ablation in patients with atrial septal closure devices

Percutaneous atrial septal defect (ASD) closure is the mainstay treatment for ostium secundum ASD and patent foramen ovale1. Patients with ASD may develop atrial fibrillation (AF), mostly due to structural atrial remodeling creating the substrate for macroreentry2,3. Timing of ASD closure is crucial to prevent further development of electrophysiological heterogeneity, thereby reducing morbidity associated with AF, even though patients with ASD closure devices remain at high risk of developing AF4.The rising number of patients undergoing percutaneous ASD closure poses a new challenge in the treatment of coexistent AF. Furthermore, the reduction of surgical ASD treatment with concurrent cryo- or radiofrequency ablation (modified Maze procedure) is contributing to increase the number of patients who would benefit from catheter ablation after transcatheter ASD closure. Although some studies have shown a high acute success rate of catheter ablation in this population5, this treatment is often denied due the higher perceived risk of performing the transseptal puncture (TSP) after percutaneous repair of the defect.Given the lack of definitive data on this topic, in this issue of the Journal, Garg et al. performed the first meta-analysis evaluating the safety and the efficacy of catheter ablation for AF in this subset of high-risk patients with ASD closure devices.