Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between the right and left atria volume and the recurrence rate after AF ablation during a 6 month follow-up.
Methods: A total of 29 patients, 37.93% with paro-xysmal and 62.07% with persistent AF, underwent PV radiofrequency isolation using Ensite NavX three di-mensional electro-anatomical mapping system. The volume of RA and LA were calculated using computed tomographic angiography. We determined the volume index, based on the LA, RA and biatrial volume and the ratio of these volumes to the body surface.
Results: During a 6 month follow-up after the AF abla-tion, we noticed that patients with AF recurrence pre-sented a significantly larger size of the LA (115.7±17.08 ml vs. 93.28±17.42 ml, p=0.042) as well as of the RA (110.6±9.68 ml vs. 84.22±12.12 ml, p <0.0001). The RA index showed a significant correlation with AF recur-rence rate (57.12±3.24 ml/m² vs. 42.12±1.06 ml/m², p<0.0006). Moreover, biatrial volume index presented a significant correlation with AF recurrence (115.2±6.98 ml/m² vs. 91.32±2.04 ml/m², p=0.0095). There was no significant correlation between the rate of AF recurren-ce and age (62.3±8.12 vs. 58.48±11.11, p=0.24).
Conclusions: The results of our study shows that the RA volume and the biatrial volume have a significant role in the recurrence of AF after PV isolation, sugges-ting the utility of RA assessment prior to ablation pro-cedures.