View clinical trials related to Persistent Atrial Fibrillation.
Filter by:Comparison of pulmonary vein and left atrial posterior wall isolation durability and clinical outcome between radiofrequency and pulse field ablation in patients with persistent and longstanding persistent atrial fibrillation.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects as many as 1 in 16 people over the age of 65 and reduces the quality of life of large numbers of people in the UK and around the world. Catheter ablation is a minimally invasive treatment that has been developed to help eliminate AF. Recent studies have identified that a particular area of the heart, namely the left atrial appendage (LAA), which is a pouch in the left atrium (small collecting chamber of the heart), may be the main source of AF in many cases. There is a clear lack of knowledge about the structure, anatomy, function and electrical properties of the LAA, which is fundamental to furthering our understanding and management of AF. In addition, it is well known that AF significantly increases the risk of stroke. The majority of strokes occur due to blood clots forming in the LAA. Traditionally, the most effective treatment to minimise the risk of stroke has been to thin the blood with agents such as warfarin. This therapy requires regular blood tests at much inconvenience to patients and increases the risk of bleeding complications. Recently, a large study demonstrated that use of an implanted device (Watchman®) to occlude the LAA is as effective as warfarin in preventing stroke and confers a lower mortality rate. We aim to investigate whether it is safe and feasible to ablate the LAA and to implant a Watchman® device during the same procedure in patients who are in atrial fibrillation all of the time.
Atrial fibrillation(AF)is the commonest arrhythmia worldwide and can lead to significant morbidity and mortality, posing an increasing public health burden. Restoration of sinus rhythm (SR) is the preferred strategy in symptomatic patients but outcomes with anti-arrhythmic drugs (AAD) are poor. The alternatives to AAD are two-fold.Firstly, catheter ablation (CA)- a technique that uses catheters (thin tubes) to deliver small 'heat lesions' to areas of the heart to eliminate AF. Secondly, surgical ablation, where multiple incisions are made in the atria to restore SR. Long term results from this traditional surgical approach are excellent however as it is technically difficult open-heart procedure with significant morbidity and mortality, it is seldom used. CA is very effective in restoring SR in the early stages of AF when it is a paroxysmal (intermittent) rhythm disturbance. If not treated at this stage AF inevitably evolves into a more persistent or permanent state and becomes more difficult to treat with CA. Therefore, the optimum approach to treat patients with symptomatic long standing persistent AF has yet to be determined and remains a key area of on-going research. New minimally invasive, thoracoscopically assisted surgical(closed-heart)approaches have recently developed which ablate a wide area around the pulmonary veins, and may offer advantages over the best current strategies in CA. There are also clear advantages for patients with greater safety and less discomfort when compared to traditional surgical open-heart procedures. At present there is small amount of encouraging data on this thoracoscopic surgical technique but there is no data comparing these two modalities of treatment in persistent AF patients. The investigators therefore wish to prospectively investigate the safety and efficacy of this thoracoscopic surgical technique and compare with CA in this group of patients. MRI scanning will also be used to visualise the effects of ablation by analysis of scar formation. The study hypothesises that thoracoscopics surgical ablation is a