title: The role of myocardial fibrosis in determining the success rate of ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation.
abstract: Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and with an aging population its prevalence will increase. In addition to appropriate anticoagulation to reduce the thromboembolic risk, there has been an increasing need for a personalized approach in identifying which patients are likely to benefit more from atrial fibrillation ablation procedures. This review will discuss the role of myocardial fibrosis in patients with atrial fibrillation, its mechanistic role, association with biomarkers and how this could potentially be of use in the development of a risk score identifying the success of maintaining sinus rhythm following an electrophysiological ablation.
authors.affiliation: Royal Brompton Hospital, Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Subothini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selvendran
authors.affiliation: Royal Brompton Hospital, Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Nikhil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aggarwal
authors.affiliation: Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.|School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.affiliation: Royal Brompton Hospital, Imperial College, London, UK - v.vassiliou@rbht.nhs.uk.|Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
authors.forename: Vassilios S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Vassiliou
mesh_terms: D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology*; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000379:methods; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants