Table 1.
Catheter ablation of the ganglionated plexi for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.
| Study | Year | Experiment vs. control group | Ablation sites | Study design | Atrial fibrillation type | No. of study patients | Outcomes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPA vs PVAI | Katritsis DG28 | 2008 | GP vs. PVI | Endocardial | CCS | Paroxysmal | 38 | AF recurrence: 74% (GP ablation group) vs. 37% (PV isolation group) (log-rank test P = 0.017) |
| Mikhaylov E29 | 2011 | GP vs. PVI | Endocardial | CCS | Paroxysmal | 70 | Freedom from any atrial tachyarrhythmia without antiarrhythmic drugs: 34.3% (GP ablation group) vs. 65.7% (PVI group) (log-rank test P = 0.008) | |
| GPA+PVAI vs. PVAI | Scherlag BJ33 | 2005 | GP + PVI vs. PVI | Endocardial | Unknown | Paroxysmal or persistent | 60 | AF-free survival: 91% in GP + PVI group vs. 71% in PVI group (no statistic comparison) |
| Katritsis DG31 | 2011 | GP + PVI vs. PVI | Endocardial | RCT | Paroxysmal | 67 | Arrhythmia-free (AF or AT) survival: 85.3% in PVI + GP group vs. 60.6% in PVI group (log rank test, P = 0.019) | |
| Katritsis DG32 | 2013 | GP + PVI vs. GP vs. PVI | Endocardial | RCT | Paroxysmal | 242 | AF-free survival: 74% (GP + PVI) vs. 48% (GP) vs. 56% (PVI) (log-rank test P = 0.004) | |
| Xu FQ34 | 2017 | GP+re-PVI vs. re-PVI | Endocardial | RCT | Paroxysmal (recurred) | 123 | AF-free survival: 91% (GP + re-PVI) vs. 78% (re-PVI) (P = 0.046) | |
| GPA without control group) | Scanavacca M35 | 2006 | GP ablation or PVI | Epicardial and/or endocardial | Observational study | Paroxysmal | 10 | Recurrence in 5/7 patients who underwent denervation |
| Po SS9 | 2009 | GP + PVI | Endocardial | Observational study | Paroxysmal or persistent | 80 | Free of symptomatic AF or AT after a single ablation procedure: 80% at 12 months and 86% at a mean follow-up of 22 months | |
| Pokushalov E27 | 2009 | Selective GP vs. anatomic GP ablation | Endocardial | RCT | Paroxysmal | 80 | Free of symptomatic paroxysmal AF: 42.5% in selective GP ablation vs. 77.5% in anatomic GP ablation (P = 0.02) | |
| Pokushalov E37 | 2010 | Anatomic GP ablation | Endocardial | Observational study | Paroxysmal | 56 | AF-free survival at 12 months: 71% | |
| Pokushalov E36 | 2010 | Anatomic GP ablation | Endocardial | Observational study | Long standing persistent | 89 | AF-free survival: 38.2% | |
| Pokushalov E38 | 2012 | GP ablation guided by HFS and CFAE | Endocardial | Observational study | Paroxysmal | 62 | AF-free survival at 12 months: 71% |
AF: atrial fibrillation; AT: atrial tachycardia; CFAE, complex fractionated atrial electrograms; CCS: case-controlled study; GP: ganglionated plexi; GPA: GP ablation; HFS, high frequency stimulation; PVI: pulmonary vein isolation; PVAI: pulmonary vein antrum isolation; RCT: randomized controlled trial; re-PVI: repeated proc nary vein isolation.