Is it possible to expect left ventricular ejection fraction improvement in patients with known advanced heart diseases in the case of right atrial flutter treated by ablation?

BACKGROUND

Atrial flutter (AFL)-related tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy (TICM) is a treatable cause of heart failure (HF). This study aims to explore the effect of AFL ablation on left ventricular (LV) function in right AFL patients with or without advanced heart diseases.

METHODS

Between January 2013 and December 2019, 149 patients underwent ablation for persistent AFL. Among them, 60 patients with persistent right atrial (RA) flutter had symptomatic HF and elevated natriuretic peptide levels. Group 1 consisted of 35 patients without advanced heart diseases, and group 2 consisted of 25 patients with prior history of ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) or surgery for valvular heart disease (VHD). Follow-up echocardiography was performed 6 months later. Improvement of LV performance was defined as LV ejection fraction (EF) increase ≥50% of baseline EF without clinical HF symptoms or LVEF recovery to ≥60%.

RESULTS

Group 2 had larger LV end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and LV end-systolic volume than group 1. At follow-up, group 2 had larger LV end-systolic volume than group 1. Group 1 had more increase in LVEF than group 2 (21.7 ± 15.2% vs 4.1 ± 13.2%; P < .001). A receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed to determine the discrimination threshold of baseline LVEDV (137 mL) in the overall study group for improvement of LV performance after ablation (P = .005).

CONCLUSIONS

Successful ablation for right AFL could achieve more reversal of LV dysfunction in patients without advanced heart diseases. Pre-ablation LVEDV ≥ 137 mL was associated with no improvement of LV performance after ablation.