RISK FACTORS FOR ATRIAL TACHYARRHYTHMIA RECURRENCE IN PATIENTS WITH NON-PAROXYSMAL ATRIAL FIBRILLATION AFTER «BOX LESION SET» THORACOSCOPIC ABLATION

Abstract

Highlights Identification of risk factors impacting the effectiveness of thoracoscopic ablation according to the box session set scheme will allow us to formulate criteria for the selection of patients with non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation for epicardial ablation of the left atrium.Duration of atrial fibrillation for more than 7.5 years and the volume of the left atrium indexed to the body surface area of more than 47 mL/m2 statistically significantly reduce the effectiveness of thoracoscopic ablation of stable atrial fibrillation by 34.2 and 55.8% during the three-year follow-up period, respectively.The need to assess the function of left atrium using modern two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography technology should be considered to determine the criteria for the successful ablation of non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. The aim. To study risk factors for atrial tachyarrhythmias recurrence after thoracoscopic ablation (TSA) of non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) in the long-term follow-up period.Methods. The retrospective study included a series of 100 patients with non-paroxysmal AF undergoing “Box lesion set” TSA with one-stage exclusion of the left atrial (LA) appendage. The efficacy of TSA in the long-term follow-up period was evaluated using 24-h HM ECG results. A retrospective analysis of risk factors for atrial tachyarrhythmias recurrence after TSA was performed. The analysis included the main clinical characteristics of patients in the preoperative period, as well as data of transthoracic echocardiography with inclusion of left atrial strain in the reservoir and conduit phases.Results. In the presented study, the main risk factors for atrial tachyarrhythmias recurrence after TSA were: duration of AF more than 7.5 years and LAVI more than 47 mL/m2. However, univariate analysis showed that for every 1-year increase in the duration of AF, the risk of arrhythmia recurrence after TSA increased 1.07-fold [95% CI: 1.01; 1.17, p = 0.0374], and for every 10 mL/m2 increase in LAVI, the risk of atrial tachyarrhythmia recurrence increased 1.95-fold [95% CI: 1.49; 2.56, p<0.001]. According to the data of two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography there was a tendency towards the decrease of the parameters of left atrial strain in the reservoir phase mainly in patients with AF, which requires further more detailed study on a larger cohort of patients.Conclusion. It is necessary to consider not only the assessment of the anatomy of the left atrium, but its function with the use of modern methods of radial imaging at the preoperative stage in order to improve the effectiveness of TSA “Box lesion set” for non-paroxysmal AF in the long-term follow-up period.