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Ablation versus Drugs in Elderly Persistent AF Background We prospectively compared the efficacy, safety, and quality of life (QoL) impact of catheter ablation versus antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) in elderly patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods and Results Four hundred and twelve consecutive patients, aged ≥ 70 years, underwent ablation (Group A, 153 patients) or AAD (Group B, 259 patients). Study endpoints: treatment failure (any AF/AT lasting >30 seconds) and treatment-related adverse events (acute when ≤1 month of procedure and long term when >1 month). At a follow-up of 60 ± 17 months, 43% and 46% patients in Group B versus 58% and 76% in Group A were in sinus rhythm (SR), respectively, after one (P = 0.003) and 2 procedures (P

Background: Current definition of persistent atrial fibrillation (PAF) enrolls a heterogeneous population with different atrial fibrillation (AF) exposure and degree of atrial substrate. Study aims were to evaluate acute and long-term results of electrical cardioversion (ECV) and to identify temporal cutoff of previous AF exposure to reclassify PAF in subgroups with different chance of sinus rhythm (SR) maintenance. Methods: Five hundred twenty-one patients (66% men; age 69 ± 10 years) with PAF undergoing ECV, were divided in four groups according to AF duration at the time of ECV: group A with AF ≤2 months (141 patients); group B with AF >2 and ≤4 months (176 patients); group C with AF >4 and ≤6 months (89 patients); and group D with AF >6 months and 6 months helps in selecting patients that can take greater advantage of the procedure. (PACE 2012; 35:1126–1134)