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Atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation can improve left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and renal function and can even reduce mortality in patients with impaired LVEF. However, the effect of post-ablation cardiorenal dysfunction on the prognosis of patients with impaired LVEF who underwent AF ablation remains unclear. Of the 1243 consecutive patients undergoing AF ablation, the prognosis of 163 non-dialysis patients who underwent AF ablation with 50% LVEF was evaluated. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality, heart failure hospitalization, and a need for modification of the treatment for heart failure. During the median follow-up of 4.2 years after the first AF ablation procedure, the primary outcome occurred in 30 of 163 patients (18%). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated that the post-LVEF (LVEF within 1 year after the procedure, and before the occurrence of primary outcome) had larger areas under the curve (0.70) than the pre-LVEF (LVEF before the procedure), and the most optimal cutoff value was LVEF ≤ 42%. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that patients with post-LVEF ≤ 42% and worsening renal function (WRF; an absolute increase in serum creatinine [SCr] ≥ 0.3 mg/dL compared with the SCr at baseline within 1 year after the procedure and before the occurrence of primary outcome) had a 3.4- to 4.3-fold and 3.4- to 3.7-fold higher risk of the primary outcome compared with those without these predictors, respectively. Patients were categorized using post-LVEF ≤ 42% and WRF as follows: group 1 (post-LVEF 42% without WRF), group 2 (post-LVEF ≤ 42% without WRF), group 3 (post-LVEF 42% with WRF), and group 4 (post-LVEF ≤ 42% with WRF). Group 4 had a 15.8-fold (P = 0.0001) higher risk of the primary outcome compared with group 1 after adjusting for pre-procedural factors. In patients with impaired LVEF undergoing AF ablation, post-LVEF ≤ 42% and WRF were independent predictors of poor prognosis. The combination of post-LVEF ≤ 42% and WRF is strongly associated with a poor prognosis in patients with AF undergoing ablation, who with these post-ablation cardiorenal dysfunction may have to be treated more intensively after AF ablation.

There are some cases that are difficult to cure with only circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI) of persistent atrial fibrillation (PerAF). Recently, prolonged interatrial conduction times (IACTs), which seem to be associated with progressive remodeled atria, have been reported as a predictor of new-onset AF. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of a prolonged IACT for predicting AF recurrences after CPVI of PerAF. One hundred thirteen patients who underwent CPVI without an empirical substrate modification of PerAF were retrospectively analyzed. The IACT was defined as the interval from the earliest P-wave onset on the ECG to the latest activation in the coronary sinus and was measured after achieving the CPVI and conversion to sinus rhythm. During a mean 22.7-month follow-up after the initial procedure, 56 patients (50%) had AF recurrences. Patients with AF recurrence had a longer IACT than those without AF recurrence (p

Atrial fibrillation (AF) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients is highly associated with deterioration of their clinical condition, such as worsening heart failure symptoms, and an increased thromboembolic stroke risk and cardiac mortality rate. This study aimed to investigate the long-term clinical course after catheter ablation (CA) in HCM patients with AF. Among 566 primary HCM patients at our institution, 94 who underwent rhythm control therapy to manage AF from 2002 to 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. The eligible patients were divided into two groups: those who managed AF with CA (n = 34) and those without CA (n = 60). The endpoints were the incidence of initial clinical events, including HCM-related death or an unplanned heart failure hospitalization, or new-onset thromboembolic strokes. During a mean follow-up of 5.8 years, 6% in the CA group and 28% in the non-CA group had a progression of the AF type into permanent AF (Log-rank: p = 0.012). In the Kaplan-Meyer curve analyses, the incidence of clinical events was significantly lower in the CA group than non-CA group (p = 0.025). The annual rates for the incidence of clinical events were 1.2% in the CA group and 6.7% in the non-CA group. In a Cox multivariate analysis, CA therapy (adjusted hazard ratio 0.22; 95% confidence interval: 0.05–0.97; p = 0.046) was the only independent predictor of the incidence of clinical events. In conclusion, CA may be associated with a favorable long-term clinical course in HCM patients with AF.