The Dissimilar Impact in Atrial Substrate Modificationof Left and Right Pulmonary Veins Isolation after Catheter Ablation of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract

Since the discovery of pulmonary veins (PVs) as foci of atrial fibrillation (AF), the commonest cardiac arrhythmia, investigation revolves around PVs catheter ablation (CA) results. Notwithstanding, CA process itself is rather neglected. We aim to decompose crucial CA steps: coronary sinus (CS) catheterization and the impact of left and right PVs isolation (LPVI, RPVI), separately. We recruited 40 paroxysmal AF patients undergoing first-time CA and obtained five-minute lead II and bipolar CS recordings during sinus rhythm (SR) before CA (B), after LPVI (L) and after RPVI (R). Among others, duration, amplitude and atrial-rate variability (ARV) were calculated for P-waves and CS local activation waves (LAWs). LAWs features were compared among CS channels for reliability analysis. P-waves and LAWs features were compared after each ablation step (B, L, R). CS channels: amplitude and area were different between distal/medial (p≤0.0014) and distal/mid-proximal channels (p≤0.0025). Medial and distal showed the most and least coherent values, respectively. Correlation was higher in proximal (≥93%) than distal (≤91%) areas. P-waves: duration was significantly shortened after LPVI (after L: p=0.0012, −13.30%). LAWs: insignificant variations. ARV modification was more prominent in LAWs (L: >+73.12%, p≤0.0480, R: <−33.94%, p≤0.0642). Medial/mid-proximal channels are recommended during SR. CS LAWs are not significantly affected by CA but they describe more precisely CA-induced ARV modifications. LPVI provokes the highest impact in paroxysmal AF CA, significantly modifying P-wave duration.