B-PO05-095 USE OF RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION CATHETER IN CRYOBALLOON PULMONARY VEIN ISOLATION - A TWO HOSPITAL SYSTEM LOCAL EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) with catheter ablation is a preferred method for symptom and rhythm control in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Both Cryoballoon and radiofrequency (RF) ablation are commonly used to achieve PVI. Prior studies have suggested that approximately 14.1 % of Cryoballoon ablation also require RF catheter to complete PVI. To assess the usage of RF catheter in our hospital system for cases where cryoballoon ablation was used as primary approach for PVI. We performed a retrospective analysis of 378 patients with either paroxysmal or persistent AF who underwent PVI at two Methodist LeBonheur Healthcare system hospitals in Memphis TN from January 2013 to June 2020. Patient demographics and PVI procedure details were obtained using electronic medical records. Data was compiled using Redcap and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 27. A total of 167 AF patients underwent cryoballoon ablation as a primary approach. 127 patients had paroxysmal AF, 37 patients had persistent AF, 2 patients had longstanding persistent AF and one AF type was not classified. The mean age was 61.7 +/- 11 years and there were 112 males (67.1%). In 62 patients (37.1%) RF ablation was required to complete PVI. In additional 44 patients (26.4%), RF catheter was used to perform additional linear or complex fractionated atrial electrograms ablations during an index procedure. The total usage of RF catheter was 63.5% in the index Cryoballoon AF ablation. In this study of our hospital system comprising of two hospitals performing AF ablation, RF ablation was employed in a majority of patients where cryoballoon ablation was the primary approach.