Mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry after AF ablation showed that only 40% of symptom-triggered events were AF, and including asymptomatic recurrences reduced the 6-month success rate from 70% to 50%.
Observational (n=19)
Does mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry accurately correlate symptoms with atrial fibrillation recurrences in patients undergoing catheter ablation?
Wireless monitoring reveals that many symptoms post-AF ablation are not due to AF, and asymptomatic AF recurrences are common, though patient compliance with intensive monitoring is a limitation.
Introduction: The goals of this study were to (i) evaluate the feasibility and results of monitoring patients prior to and following catheter ablation of AF with the mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry (MCOT) system and to (ii) correlate symptoms and the presence or absence of atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods and Results: A total of 19 consecutive patients (12 men 63%; age 60 ± 6 years) with highly symptomatic drug refractory AF underwent catheter ablation. Each was provided with a MCOT monitor (CardioNet, USA) and asked to wear it 5 days immediately before the ablation, and 5 days per month starting with the ablation for 6 consecutive months. When patients experienced any symptoms, they were asked to activate the system and to record associated symptoms. A total of 494 days (11,856 hours) were monitored. Out of the total 390 events triggered by patient's symptoms, 40% were confirmed as AF events (156) and 60% were confirmed as non‐AF events (234). Only shortness of breath and chest discomfort were highly associated with AF (P < 0.05). At the end of 6 months of follow‐up, out of 10 patients that completed the study, 7 (70%) patients were free of symptomatic AF recurrences whereas only 5 (50%) patients achieved success when asymptomatic AF recurrences were included in the outcome. Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate the potential utility of wireless monitoring systems in the follow‐up of AF ablation patients, while also identifying poor patient compliance with an intensive monitoring protocol as an important limitation.
Vasamreddy et al. (Mon,) conducted a observational in highly symptomatic drug refractory atrial fibrillation (n=19). mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry (MCOT) system was evaluated on feasibility and results of monitoring patients prior to and following catheter ablation of AF and correlation of symptoms with AF. Mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry after AF ablation showed that only 40% of symptom-triggered events were AF, and including asymptomatic recurrences reduced the 6-month success rate from 70% to 50%.