Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common form of arrythmia or irregular heartbeat worldwide, impacting millions of people in the U.S. alone.
In a new study published in Heart Rhythm , researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, analyzed real-world clinical data to measure the impact of evidence-based best-practices on patient outcomes for the most common AF procedure: radiofrequency (RF)-based ablation. One year after the procedure, 81.6 percent of patients were free from atrial arrhythmias, higher than rates reported from clinical trials, and 89.
7 percent of these patients were off antiarrhythmic drugs. Results were presented simultaneously at a late-breaking clinical trial presentation at the Heart Rhythm 2024 meeting in Boston, MA. When we incorporate what we think are the best strategies for radiofrequency-based ablation, we can further improve the long-term patient outcomes.
With high-volume experienced operators using these best practices, we are reporting excellent short and long-term clinical outcomes, with more than 80% long-term success and very low complication rates." Paul Zei, MD, corresponding author, electrophysiologist and physician-researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital RF-based ablation uses radiofrequency energy to inactivate the heart tissue responsible for producing irregular electrical signals. Though RF-based ablation's safety and efficacy have been previously demonstrated in ran.