Progression of Atrial Fibrillation after Cryoablation or Drug Therapy

Atrial fibrillation is a chronic, progressive disorder, and persistent forms of atrial fibrillation are associated with increased risks of thromboembolism and heart failure. Catheter ablation as initial therapy may modify the pathogenic mechanism of atrial fibrillation and alter progression to persistent atrial fibrillation.

We report the 3-year follow-up of patients with paroxysmal, untreated atrial fibrillation who were enrolled in a trial in which they had been randomly assigned to undergo initial rhythm-control therapy with cryoballoon ablation or to receive antiarrhythmic drug therapy. All the patients had implantable loop recorders placed at the time of trial entry, and evaluation was conducted by means of downloaded daily recordings and in-person visits every 6 months. Data regarding the first episode of persistent atrial fibrillation (lasting ≥7 days or lasting 48 hours to 7 days but requiring cardioversion for termination), recurrent atrial tachyarrhythmia (defined as atrial fibrillation, flutter, or tachycardia lasting ≥30 seconds), the burden of atrial fibrillation (percentage of time in atrial fibrillation), quality-of-life metrics, health care utilization, and safety were collected.