Thoracoscopic surgical atrial fibrillation ablation in patients with an extremely enlarged left atrium.

PURPOSE: Efficacy of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for atrial fibrillation (AF) decreases as left atrial (LA) volume increases. However, surgical AF ablation with unknown efficacy is being performed in patients with a giant LA (GLA). We determined efficacy of thoracoscopic AF ablation in patients with compared to without a GLA.

METHODS

Patients underwent thoracoscopic PVI with additional left atrial ablations lines (in persistent AF) and were prospectively followed up. GLA was defined as LA volume index (LAVI) ≥ 50 ml/m2. Follow-up was performed with ECGs and 24-h Holters every 3 months. After a 3-month blanking period, all antiarrhythmic drugs were discontinued. The primary outcome was freedom of any atrial tachyarrhythmia ≥ 30 s during 2 years of follow-up.

RESULTS

At baseline, 68 (15.4%) patients had a GLA (LAVI: 56.7 [52.4-62.8] ml/m2), while 374 (84.6%) had a smaller LA (LAVI: 34.8 [29.2-41.3] ml/m2). GLA patients were older (61.9 ± 6.9 vs 59.4 ± 8.8 years, p = 0.02), more often diagnosed with persistent AF (76.5% vs 58.6%, p = 0.008). Sex was equally distributed (with approximately 25% females). GLA patients had more recurrences compared to non-GLA patients at 2-year follow-up (42.6% vs 57.2%, log rank p = 0.02). Freedom of AF was 69.0% in non-GLA paroxysmal AF patients compared to 43.8-49.3% in a combined group of GLA and/or persistent AF patients(log rank p < 0.001). Furthermore, freedom was 62.4% in non-GLA male patients, compared to 43.8-47.4 in a combined group of GLA and/or female sex(log rank p = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

Thoracoscopic AF ablation is an effective therapy in a substantial part of GLA patients. Thoracoscopic AF ablation may serve as a last resort treatment option in these patients.