title: Atrial fibrillation and its determinants after radiofrequency ablation of chronic common atrial flutter 
creator: Cade, Stéphane
creator: Sedighian, Shahine
creator: Bortone, Agustin
creator: Gervasoni, Richard
creator: Macia, Jean Christophe
creator: Leclercq, Florence
creator: Grolleau, Robert
creator: Pasquié, Jean Luc
subject: Indian Pacing and Electrophysiology Journal
description: Aim. Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is a major clinical issue and its occurrence is the main problem after catheter ablation of atrial flutter. The long-term occurrence of AFib after common atrial flutter ablation is still matter of debate as it may influence the therapeutic approach. So, the aim of our study was to analyze the determinants and the time course of AFib after radiofrequency catheter ablation of chronic common atrial flutter.  Methods and Results. 89 consecutive patients (67.5 ± 12.0 yrs) underwent RF ablation of chronic common atrial flutter. 38.2 % had previous history of paroxysmal AFib. 51% had no underlying structural heart disease. Over a mean follow-up of 38 ± 13 months, the occurrence rate of AFib  progressively increased up to 32.9% at the end of follow-up. The median occurrence time for AFib was 8 months. AFib occurrence was significantly associated with previous AFib history (P=0.01) but not with the presence of underlying heart disease (P=n.s.). Of particular interest, in our study, AFib never occurred in patients without previous AFib history. Palpitations after chronic common atrial flutter ablation was mostly related to AFib.  Conclusion. In conclusion, after chronic common atrial flutter ablation, AFib incidence progressively increased over the follow-up in all patients. Patients with prior AFib history appeared to be a very high risk group. In these patients, closer monitoring is mandatory and the persistent risk of AFib recurrences may justify prolonged anticoagulation policy. 
publisher: Indian Pacing and Electrophysiology Group
contributor: Singh, Balbir
contributor: Lokhandwala, Yash
contributor: Francis, Johnson
contributor: Gupta, Anup
date: 2005-10
type: Journal (Paginated)
type: PeerReviewed
format: text/html
identifier: http://cogprints.org/4593/1/pasquie2.htm
format: application/pdf
identifier: http://cogprints.org/4593/2/pasquie2.pdf
identifier:   Cade, Stéphane and Sedighian, Shahine and Bortone, Agustin and Gervasoni, Richard and Macia, Jean Christophe and Leclercq, Florence and Grolleau, Robert and Pasquié, Jean Luc  (2005) Atrial fibrillation and its determinants after radiofrequency ablation of chronic common atrial flutter.  [Journal (Paginated)]     
relation: http://cogprints.org/4593/