Catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation: results from the first European Snapshot Survey on Procedural Routines for Atrial Fibrillation Ablation (ESS-PRAFA) Part II

The European Snapshot Survey on Procedural Routines in Atrial Fibrillation Ablation (ESS-PRAFA) is a prospective, multicentre snapshot survey collecting patient-based data on current clinical practices during atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. The participating centres were asked to prospectively enrol consecutive patients during a 6-week period (from September to October 2014). A web-based case report form was employed to collect information of patients and data of procedures. A total of 455 eligible consecutive patients from 13 countries were enrolled (mean age 59 +/- 10.8 years, 28.8% women). Distinct strategies and endpoints were collected for AF ablation procedures. Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) was performed in 96.7% and served as the endpoint in 91.3% of procedures. A total of 52 (11.5%) patients underwent ablation as first-line therapy. The cryoballoon technique was employed in 31.4% of procedures. Procedure, ablation, and fluoroscopy times differed among various types of AF ablation. Divergences in patient selection and complications were observed among low-, medium-, and high-volume centres. Adverse events were observed in 4.6% of AF ablation procedures. In conclusion, PVI was still the main strategy for AF ablation. Procedure-related complications seemed not to have declined. The centre volume played an important role in patient selection, strategy choice, and had impact on the rate of periprocedural complication.