Table 2.
Atrial fibrillation ablation characteristics and follow-up.
| Variable | Laser-Balloon N = 50 |
Radiofrequency N = 50 |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiac rhythm | |||
| Heart rate at the beginning of procedure—bpm | 60 (55–68) | 60 (53–66) | 0.991 |
| AF at the beginning of procedure—no (%) | 7 (14) | 2 (4) | 0.160 |
| AF at the end of procedure—no (%) | 5 (10) | 2 (4) | 0.436 |
| Cardiac anatomy | |||
| Left pulmonary veins—no (%) | 0.480 | ||
| 1 (Left pulmonary trunk) | 6 (12) | 8 (16) | |
| 2 | 44 (88) | 40 (82) | |
| 3 | 0 | 1 (2) | |
| Right pulmonary veins—no (%) | 0.393 | ||
| 1 (Right pulmonary trunk) | 0 | 1 (2) | |
| 2 | 47 (94) | 48 (96) | |
| 3 | 2 (4) | 0 | |
| 4 | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | |
| Procedure characteristics | |||
| Procedure duration—min | 129 (110–160) | 160 (119–198) | 0.007 |
| Iodinated contrast media—ml | 2 (2–3) | 2 (1–2) | <0.001 |
| Fluroscopy duration—min | 16.1 (12.2–24) | 9.8 (6.9–13.6) | <0.001 |
| Dose-area product—cGy.cm2 | 439 (250–851) | 761 (334–1315) | 0.324 |
| Radiofrequency duration—min | x | 29 (22.9–37.7) | |
| Number of RF applications—no (%) | x | 52 (36–64) | |
| Complication—no (%) | 2 (4) | 2 (4) | 1 |
| Cardiac tamponade | 1 (2) | 2 (4) | |
| Transient phrenic nerve palsy | 1 (2) | 0 | |
| In hospital follow-up | |||
| Electrical cardioversion after AF ablation—no (%) | 4 (8) | 0 (0) | 0.117 |
| Antiarrhythmic drug at hospital discharge—no (%) | 44 (88) | 38 (76) | 0.192 |
| Amiodarone—no (%) | 13 (26) | 17 (34) | 0.513 |
| Flecainide—no (%) | 27 (54) | 17 (34) | 0.069 |
| Sotalol—no (%) | 3 (6) | 2 (4) | 1 |
| Beta-blockers at discharge—no (%) | 17 (34) | 12 (24) | 0.271 |
| Hospital stay duration—days | 4 (4–4) | 4 (4–4) | 0.871 |
| One-year follow-up | |||
| AF recurrence—no (%) | 7 (14) | 14 (28) | 0.14 |
| Time to AF recurrence—days | 186 (114–284) | 190 (98–216) | 0.860 |
| Redo procedure—no (%) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 1 |
AF: atrial fibrillation; RF: radiofrequency.