title: One-year follow-up after single procedure Cryoballoon ablation: a comparison between the first and second generation balloon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  With respect to the first generation Cryoballoon (CB), the second generation (Cryoballoon Advance [CB-A], Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA) was designed with technical modifications resulting in a larger and more uniform zone of freezing on the balloon's surface aiming at procedural outcome improvement in the setting of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation. However, a comparison between both technologies on a midterm follow-up is missing in today's literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 100 patients (the last 50 patients with the first generation CB and the first 50 patients with the second generation CB-A upon its inception in our center) having undergone a single CB ablation for paroxysmal AF (PAF) and having completed a 12-month follow-up, were consecutively included in our study. Freedom from AF off-antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) after a single procedure was 78% (39/50) in CB-A and 58% (29/50) in the CB group (P = 0.03) during the whole follow-up duration. Considering a blanking period of 3 months, freedom from AF off-AAD was achieved in 84% (42/50) in CB-A, while 66% (33/50) were free from recurrence in the CB group (P = 0.038). Right phrenic nerve palsy (PNP) occurred in 8 patients (16%) in CB-A group and in 4 patients (8%) in the CB group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Freedom from AF on 12 months follow-up was significantly higher in the CB-A group with respect to the first generation device. The most frequent complication observed was PNP.
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Giacomo DI
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Giovanni
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kristel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wauters
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Gian-Battista
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Chierchia
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sieira
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Moises
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Levinstein
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: DE Asmundis
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Giannis
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baltogiannis
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciconte
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Justo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Julia
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mugnai
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ghazala
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Irfan
authors.affiliation: Heart Rhythm Management Center, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brugada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D001530:Belgium; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010243:Paralysis / Q000209:etiology; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries / Q000209:etiology; D010791:Phrenic Nerve / Q000293:injuries; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000889:Anti-Arrhythmia Agents
keywords: atrial fibrillation; catheter ablation; cryoballoon; phrenic nerve; pulmonary vein isolation