title: Atrial Fibrillation Ablation and Stroke.
abstract: Catheter ablation has become a widely available and accepted treatment to restore sinus rhythm in atrial fibrillation patients who fail antiarrhythmic drug therapy. Although generally safe, the procedure carries a non-negligible risk of complications, including periprocedural cerebral insults. Uninterrupted anticoagulation, maintenance of an adequate ACT during the procedure, and measures to avoid and detect thrombus build-up on sheaths and atheters during the procedure, appears useful to reduce the risk of embolic events. This is a review of the incidence, mechanisms, impact, and methods to reduce catheter ablation related cerebral insults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Hospital, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aagaard
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Hospital, Bronx, NY, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Briceno
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of Debrecen, 22 Móricz Zs, Debrecen H4032, Hungary.
authors.forename: Zoltan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Csanadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sanghamitra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mohanty
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gianni
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Chintan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of Debrecen, 22 Móricz Zs, Debrecen H4032, Hungary.
authors.forename: Edina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nagy-Baló
authors.affiliation: The Al-Sabah Arrhythmia Institute at Mount Sinai St. Luke, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Danik
authors.affiliation: The Al-Sabah Arrhythmia Institute at Mount Sinai St. Luke, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Conor
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: J David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Burkhardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, Austin, TX, USA; Division of Cardiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; CaseWestern Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; EP Services, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA; Interventional Electrophysiology, Scripps Clinic, San Diego, CA, USA; Dell Medical School, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA. Electronic address: dr.natale@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Natale
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute, St David's Medical Center, Austin, TX, USA; Department of Cardiology, University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA. Electronic address: dibbia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Biase
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D014943:Global Health; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology
keywords: Anticoagulation; Atrial fibrillation; Silent cerebral ischemia; Stroke