Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug 13;100(32):e26914.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000026914.

Radiofrequency and cryoballoon ablation improve cognitive function in patients with atrial fibrillation

Xinlu Wang  1 , Zefeng Wang, Xiaohan Yan, Manyun Huang, Yongquan Wu
Affiliations

Radiofrequency and cryoballoon ablation improve cognitive function in patients with atrial fibrillation

Xinlu Wang et al. Medicine (Baltimore). .

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation is considered to be the most common arrhythmia in the clinic, and it gradually increases with age. In recent years, there has been increasing evidence that atrial fibrillation may exacerbate the progression of cognitive dysfunction. The current guidelines recommend ablation for drug-refractory atrial fibrillation.We aimed to prospectively analyze changes in cognitive function in patients with atrial fibrillation following treatment using different ablation methods.A total of 139 patients, with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, were included in the study. The patients were divided into the drug therapy (n = 41) and catheter ablation (n = 98) groups, with the catheter ablation group further subdivided into radiofrequency ablation (n = 68) and cryoballoon (CY) ablation (n = 30). We evaluated cognitive function at baseline, 3- and 12-months follow-up using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-modified (TICS-m) test, then analyzed differences in cognitive function between the drug therapy and catheter ablation groups, to reveal the effect of the different ablation methods.We observed a significantly higher TICS-m score (39.56 ± 3.198) in the catheter ablation group at 12-month follow-up (P < .001), than the drug treatment group was. Additionally, we found no statistically significant differences in TICS-m scores between the radiofrequency ablation and CY groups at 3- and 12-month postoperatively (P > .05), although the two subgroups showed statistically significant cognitive function (P < .001).Overall, these findings indicated that radiofrequency and CY ablation improve cognitive function in patients with atrial fibrillation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Changes in cognitive function in the drug treatment group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in cognitive function in catheter ablation group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Guo Y, Tian Y, Wang H, et al. . Prevalence, incidence, and lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation in China: new insights into the global burden of atrial fibrillation. Chest 2015;147:109–19. - PubMed
    1. Chinta V, Askandar S, Nanda A, et al. . Atrial fibrillation and deterioration in cognitive function. Curr Probl Cardiol 2018;44:100386. - PubMed
    1. Madhavan M, Graff-Radford J, Piccini JP, et al. . Cognitive dysfunction in atrial fibrillation. Nat Rev Cardiol 2018;15:744–56. - PubMed
    1. Chopard R, Piazza G, Gale SA, et al. . Dementia and atrial fibrillation: pathophysiological mechanisms and therapeutic implications. Am J Med 2018;131:1408–17. - PubMed
    1. Mahajan R, Brooks AG, Sullivan T, et al. . Importance of the underlying substrate in determining thrombus location in atrial fibrillation: implications for left atrial appendage closure. Heart 2012;98:1120–6. - PubMed