Photo Credit: TefiM

Cryoballoon and radiofrequency ablation had similar atrial tachyarrhythmia outcomes at 1-year post-ablation in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). However, findings from the randomized controlled CRRF-PeAF trial indicated that radiofrequency ablation has a more substantial reversed remodeling effect than cryoballoon ablation.

The CRRF-PeAF trial compared cryoballoon and radiofrequency ablation in a large cohort of patients with persistent AF. The 500 participants were randomly assigned 1:1 to cryoballoon or radiofrequency ablation. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of atrial tachyarrhythmias at 1 year of follow-up. Dr. Kengo Kusano, MD, from the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, in Japan, presented the results¹.

No difference was seen between the two arms concerning the primary endpoint (HR 0.99; 95% CI 0.69–1.43; P=0.96). This finding was consistent across subgroups. “We did, however, see a significant reduction in left atrial volume index in the radiofrequency group as compared with the cryoballoon group at 1-year post-ablation, suggesting that the two ablation techniques have a different impact on reverse remodeling,” added Dr. Kusano.

“Cryoballoon and radiofrequency ablation yielded similar arrhythmia outcomes in patients with persistent AF,” concluded Dr. Kusano. “Although we know that cryoballoon ablation has a shorter procedure time than radiofrequency ablation, the latter was associated with inducing more profound structural changes to the left atrium.”

Medical writing support was provided by Robert van den Heuvel.
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