--- abstract: | 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. altloc: - http://www.ipej.org/0504/pasquie2.htm chapter: ~ commentary: ~ commref: ~ confdates: ~ conference: ~ confloc: ~ contact_email: ~ creators_id: [] creators_name: - family: Cade given: Stéphane honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Sedighian given: Shahine honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Bortone given: Agustin honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Gervasoni given: Richard honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Macia given: Jean Christophe honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Leclercq given: Florence honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Grolleau given: Robert honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Pasquié given: Jean Luc honourific: '' lineage: '' date: 2005-10 date_type: published datestamp: 2005-11-12 department: ~ dir: disk0/00/00/45/93 edit_lock_since: ~ edit_lock_until: ~ edit_lock_user: ~ editors_id: [] editors_name: - family: Singh given: Balbir honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Lokhandwala given: Yash honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Francis given: Johnson honourific: '' lineage: '' - family: Gupta given: Anup honourific: '' lineage: '' eprint_status: archive eprintid: 4593 fileinfo: /style/images/fileicons/text_html.png;/4593/1/pasquie2.htm|/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png;/4593/2/pasquie2.pdf full_text_status: public importid: ~ institution: ~ isbn: ~ ispublished: pub issn: ~ item_issues_comment: [] item_issues_count: 0 item_issues_description: [] item_issues_id: [] item_issues_reported_by: [] item_issues_resolved_by: [] item_issues_status: [] item_issues_timestamp: [] item_issues_type: [] keywords: "atrial fibrillation; atrial flutter; follow-up; radiofrequency catheter ablation\n" lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:56:12 latitude: ~ longitude: ~ metadata_visibility: show note: ~ number: 4 pagerange: 272-278 pubdom: TRUE publication: Indian Pacing and Electrophysiology Journal publisher: Indian Pacing and Electrophysiology Group refereed: TRUE referencetext: |+ 1. 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