Study population
353 patient records were assessed for inclusion (277 were excluded: 130
due to index RF procedure, 58 for LVEF >45% and 42 for
follow-up data unavailable for ≥ 1 yr, 47 for previous LA ablation for
AF. 76 patients were included for analysis. Baseline characteristics are
shown in Table 1. Patients were predominately male (80%) with an
average age of 63 years and CHADS2 VASc risk score of
2.7 with an average LVEF of 34%. A majority had persistent AF (71%),
of which 27% had long standing persistent AF > 1 year.
Most patients had non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (47%). Patients were on
established anti-heart failure medical therapy with 91% on RAAS
inhibition and 78% on beta-blocker therapy. The average follow up time
was 28 ± 13 months.