Pharmacological and ablative hybrid therapy of atrial fibrillation. Long-term effect on quality of life and arrhythmia-related symptoms.
The pharmacological and ablative hybrid therapy of atrial fibrillation (AF) consists of radiofrequency catheter ablation of antiarrhythmic drug-induced typical atrial flutter (AFl) and continuation of drug therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of this therapy on AF symptoms and quality of life (QoL). Forty-six patients were monitored after isthmus-ablation of drug-induced typical AFl and continuation of their antiarrhythmic drug treatment over a mean follow-up of 22.4+/-11.6 months. AF characteristics, symptoms and QoL before and after ablation were evaluated by the SF-36 question- naire, the Symptoms Checklist-Frequency and Severity Scale and the analysis of ECG recordings. 63% of patients demonstrated recurrences of AF. However, the frequency and duration of symptomatic episodes significantly decreased in 82.6 and 76% of patients. All categories of the SF-36 improved significantly and the AF symptomatology showed a relevant attenuation in 65.8% of the study population.


CONCLUSIONS
The pharmacological and ablative hybrid therapy significantly reduced the mean number and the duration of symptomatic AF episodes as well as AF-correlated symptoms and was associated with significant QoL improvement.
Bielik
H
H
Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik II, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
Schrickel
J
J
Shlevkov
N
N
Yang
A
A
Schwab
J O
JO
Bitzen
A
A
Lüderitz
B
B
Lewalter
T
T
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents