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Review
. 2020 Aug;9(2):104-107.
doi: 10.15420/aer.2020.18.

Cryoballoon Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in Octogenarians

Tauseef Akhtar  1 , Ronald Berger  1 , Joseph E Marine  1 , Usama A Daimee  1 , Hugh Calkins  1 , David Spragg  1
Affiliations
Review

Cryoballoon Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation in Octogenarians

Tauseef Akhtar et al. Arrhythm Electrophysiol Rev. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

A significant proportion of AF patients with advanced age are being treated in clinical practice. Cryoballoon ablation of AF, given its shorter procedure time and comparable efficacy to radiofrequency ablation, has rapidly become a commonly used tool for AF ablation. Data regarding the outcomes of cryoballoon ablation of AF in octogenarians are limited because of the exclusion of this age group in the previous studies. The authors report outcomes of 15 octogenarian AF patients undergoing index cryoballoon ablation at a single centre. The mean age of the included patients was 83 ± 3 years. In total, 13 patients (87%) presented with paroxysmal AF, and two (13%) had long-standing persistent AF. At 6 and 12 months of follow-up, freedom from AF was 80% and 70%, respectively. None of the patients suffered any procedure-related complications. Cryoballoon ablation appears to be a safe and effective approach for treating symptomatic AF refractory to antiarrhythmic drug therapy in octogenarian patients, based on outcomes in this cohort. These findings require further validation in prospective randomised studies with larger sample sizes.

Keywords: AF; cryoballoon ablation; elderly; octogenarians; pulmonary vein isolation; radiofrequency ablation; transient phrenic nerve palsy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Funding for this research was provided in part by the Edward St John Fund for AF Research, the Roz and Marvin H Weiner and Family Foundation, the Dr Francis P Chiaramonte Foundation, the Marilyn and Christian Poindexter Arrhythmia Research Fund, Norbert and Louise Grunwald Cardiac Arrhythmia Research Fund, and the Mr & Mrs Larry Small AF Research Fund. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. Freedom From AF During Follow-up Following Cryoballoon Ablation
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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