Patients‘ population
This study included patients with non-valvular AF who underwent
high-density voltage mapping after PV isolation at the Hyogo College of
Medicine and Kawasaki Hospital between August 2019 and April 2020. From
this initial population, patients who had a structural heart disease, or
patients requiring LA ablation other than PV isolation were excluded
from the study. The remaining 100 patients were included in our study
analyses. AF was categorized into two types; paroxysmal AF (PAF) and
non-PAF. All antiarrhythmic drugs were withheld at least 5 half-lives
before CA procedure.
All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) within
1-month preceding the procedure. LA diameter, E wave, deceleration time,
LV diameter during end diastole, the prevalence of LV hypertrophy, LV
ejection fraction, and E/e‘ ratio were assessed. LA diameter was indexed
for body size by dividing by body surface area (BSA) calculated using
the Dubois formula. LA size assessed by LA diameter/BSA was categorized
into normal / mildly (<2.6 cm/m2),
moderately (2.7-2.9 cm/m2), or severely (≥3.0
cm/m2) enlarged LA according to current
recommendations.8 All patients were older than 18
years of age and provided written informed consent to the procedures.
The study protocol complied with the Declaration of Helsinki and was
approved by the appointed local ethics committee (The Ethics Review
Board of Hyogo College of Medicine, Reference number: 3477).