Additional linear ablation from the superior vena cava to right atrial septum after pulmonary vein isolation improves the clinical outcome in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: prospective randomized study

Aims Although circumferential pulmonary vein isolation (CPVI) has been considered as the cornerstone for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) ablation, there has been a substantial recurrence rate. We conducted a prospectively randomized study to evaluate whether additional linear ablation from the superior vena cava (SVC) to the right atrial (RA) septum (SVC-L) improves the clinical outcome. Methods and results This study enroled 200 patients with PAF (male 74.5%, 56.8 +/- 11.7 years old) randomly assigned to either the CPVI (n = 100) or CPVI +/- SVC-L (n = 100) groups. An RA isthmus ablation was performed in all patients. The CPVI +/- SVC-L group required a longer ablation procedure time (82.7 +/- 17.9 min) than the CPVI group (63.6 +/- 16.8 min, P < 0.001). The complication rates were 5% in CPVI +/- SVC-L group and 2% in CPVI group, < respectively (P = 0.445). Two CPVI +/- SVC-L group patients had post-procedural sinus node dysfunction, which recovered within 24 h. During 12.2 +/- 5.3 months of follow-uP < the recurrence rate was significantly lower in the CPVI +/- SVC-L group (6%) than the CPVI group (27%, P < 0.001). The post-procedural 3-month follow-up heart rate variability in the CPVI +/- SVC-L group showed a significantly greater reduction in the rMSSD (25.2 +/- 13.7 vs. 13.7 +/- 8.5 ms, P < 0.001), HF (10.2 +/- 7.1 vs. 5.5 +/- 5.8 ms(2), P < 0.001), and LF/HF (1.6 +/- 0.5 vs. 0.9 +/- 0.3, P < 0.001) than in the CPVI group. Conclusion In spite of a longer procedure time and risk of transient sinus node dysfunction, an SVC-L in addition to CPVI improved the clinical outcome of catheter ablation, and was associated with post-procedural autonomic neural remodelling in patients with PAF.