title: A long-term evaluation of cryoballoon ablation in 205 atrial fibrillation patients: a single center experience.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atrial fibrillation is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia with significant healthcare impact with regards to treatment costs, morbidity, and mortality. Many of the focal electrical activities that initiate and sustain atrial fibrillation have been found to reside within or near the pulmonary veins. Consequently, pulmonary vein isolation by catheter ablation has emerged as an effective method to eliminate the focal triggers associated with atrial fibrillation.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this single-center study, 205 patients were ablated for atrial fibrillation using a cryoballoon catheter and followed-up long-term by retrospective chart examination to evaluate their post-procedural freedom from atrial fibrillation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients were followed for up to 6 years with a cohort median of 3 years of post-ablation evaluation. Overall, at 12, 24, and 36 months post-ablation, 71, 49, and 31% of evaluated patients were free of atrial fibrillation, respectively. We found the type of atrial fibrillation (paroxysmal vs. persistent) as an independent predictor for arrhythmia recurrence (HR 1.97; 95% CI: 1.24-3.13, P  = 0.006). The cohort median atrial fibrillation-free survival time was 24 months (27 months for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation patients and 14 months for persistent atrial fibrillation patients). There were a total of 37 (18%) complications, 8 (3.9%) were categorized as major complications, all without permanent sequels. The most common complication was phrenic nerve palsy which occurred in 14 (6.8%) patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Long-term outcomes in this study suggest that the pulmonary vein isolation using the cryoballoon technique is relatively an effective method especially in the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Clinic, Arrhythmology Section, East Slovakia Institute for Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Ondavská 8, Košice, 04011, Slovakia. alexanderboho@gmail.com.|Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovakia. alexanderboho@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bohó
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Clinic, Arrhythmology Section, East Slovakia Institute for Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Ondavská 8, Košice, 04011, Slovakia. smisikova@vusch.sk.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mišíková
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Clinic, Arrhythmology Section, East Slovakia Institute for Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Ondavská 8, Košice, 04011, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spurný
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Clinic, Arrhythmology Section, East Slovakia Institute for Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Ondavská 8, Košice, 04011, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Komanová
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Clinic, Arrhythmology Section, East Slovakia Institute for Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Ondavská 8, Košice, 04011, Slovakia.|Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kerekanič
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Clinic, Arrhythmology Section, East Slovakia Institute for Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Ondavská 8, Košice, 04011, Slovakia.|Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hudák
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Clinic, Arrhythmology Section, East Slovakia Institute for Cardiac and Vascular Diseases, Ondavská 8, Košice, 04011, Slovakia. stancakb@vusch.sk.|Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovakia. stancakb@vusch.sk.
authors.forename: Branislav
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stančák
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015984:Causality; D015897:Comorbidity; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality*; D015995:Prevalence; D012008:Recurrence; D012133:Respiratory Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Catheter ablation; Complications; Cryoballoon; Efficacy