title: Quality of life in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation after circumferential pulmonary vein ablation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and is associated with a deterioration of quality of life (QoL). Catheter ablation is a therapeutic strategy for some patients with AF. The effectiveness of pulmonary vein isolation is still under assessment.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the long-term influence of circumferential pulmonary vein ablation (CPVA) on QoL in patients with AF.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study population consisted of 33 patients (26 males, age 54.2 ± 9 years) with highly symptomatic (EHRA II-III) drug refractory paroxysmal AF, who underwent CPVA. A clinical examination, electrocardiogram (ECG), and Holter ECG were performed before and during a one-year follow-up. The SF-36 Medical Outcomes Survey Short-Form QoL questionnaire, scored on a 0-100 scale for each of eight domains: bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), mental health (MH), physical functioning (PF), role-emotional (RE), role-physical (RP), social functioning (SF), and vitality (V), was collected before and one year after CPVA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the one-year follow-up 27 (82%) patients were free of AF. EHRA symptoms were improved one-year after CPVA regardless of CPVA efficacy. After the follow-up the SF-36 questionnaire results improved significantly in all of the subscales in patients without a recurrence of AF after CPVA. In subjects with a recurrence of AF, all of the subscales did not indicate any statistically significant differences. There was an association between the CPVA and the following QoL domains: GH (p = 0.018), PF (p = 0.042), and V (p = 0.041). The highest values of the GH and V domains were found in the non-recurrence patients one year after CPVA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CPVA results in the clinical improvement of patients with symptomatic AF regardless of the final arrhythmia termination. Patients after successful CPVA experienced a significant improvement in all of the subscales of the QoL.
authors: I Oddział Kardiologii SPSK nr 7 Katowice 40-635 ul Ziolowa 45/47. iskowerska@hoga.pl.
authors: Iwona M
authors: IM
authors: Woźniak-Skowerska
authors: Mariusz J
authors: MJ
authors: Skowerski
authors: Andrzej
authors: A
authors: Hoffmann
authors: Seweryn
authors: S
authors: Nowak
authors: Maciej
authors: M
authors: Faryan
authors: Jarosław
authors: J
authors: Kolasa
authors: Tomasz
authors: T
authors: Skowerski
authors: Krzysztof
authors: K
authors: Szydło
authors: Anna Maria
authors: AM
authors: Wnuk-Wojnar
authors: Katarzyna
authors: K
authors: Mizia-Stec
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011667:Pulmonary Veins / Q000601:surgery*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: atrial fibrillation; pulmonary vein isolation; quality of life