Fehmi Keçe

Chapter 8 170 without contact force sensing (62 vs. 55% P=0.589). Before the ablation, anti-arrhythmic drugs usage (84% in the total group) was not significantly different between the groups. In the no-recurrence group after the blanking period of 3 months, 38 patients (90%) stopped all AAD’s, 4 patients (10%) continued with sotalol in a lower dosage at the discretion of the treating physician as beta blockade therapy was indicated for concomitant coronary artery disease. Table 2. Procedural details of the index procedure between patients with and without AT/AF recurrence. All (n=70) AT/AF recurrence (n=42) No AT/AF recurrence (n=28) P value Successful box isolation, n (%) 67 (96) 40 (95) 27 (96) 0.810 CARTO, n (%) 48 (69) 29 (69) 19 (68) 0.916 Force sensing catheter, n (%) 20 (29) 11 (26) 9 (32) 0.589 Additional ablation, n (%) 10 (14) 6 (14) 4 (14) 1.000 CFAE, n (%) 3 (4) 1 (2) 2 (7) 0.335 SVC isolation, n (%) 3 (4) 2 (5) 1 (4) 0.810 Mitral isthmus, n (%) 4 (6) 2 (5) 2 (7) 0.674 Focal AT, n (%) 3 (5) 2 (6) 1 (5) 0.810 Values are reported as the mean ± standard deviation, median (interquartile range), or n (%). AF indicates atrial fibrillation; AT, atrial tachycardia; CFAE, Continuous Fractionated Atrial Electrogram; and LA, left atrium. 8.3.5 Predictors of AF/AT recurrence In univariate analysis, a larger LA volume, a history of prior mitral valve surgery and a smaller box surface ratio were associated with AF/AT recurrence (p ≤ 0.1). Male gender, type and duration of AF, Body Mass Index, CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score, previous PVI box lesion width, height and surface area were not associated with AF recurrence (Table 3). On multivariate Cox proportional regression analysis only a smaller box surface ratio (Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.81; 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.690–0.955); p = 0.012) was independently associatedwithAF/AT recurrence (table3). Thebox lesionwidthandheightwerenot significantly different between the recurrence and non-recurrence group (respectively 38±5 and 38±8mm and 45±8 and 44±9mm). The distance between the posterior line to themitral annulus was 53 ± 8 mm in the recurrence group and 54±8 in the no-recurrence group (p=0.639). In addition, no correlation between the box surface ratio and the distance from the posterior line to the