Treatment of Long-Lasting Persistent Atrial Fibrillation Using Minimally Invasive Surgery Combined With Irbesartan
Background Recent studies have provided evidence that the renin-angiotensin system plays a key role in the onset and progression of atrial fibrillation (AF). The current study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of video-assisted minimally invasive radiofrequency ablation for long-lasting...
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Published in | The Annals of thoracic surgery Vol. 91; no. 4; pp. 1183 - 1189 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
New York, NY
Elsevier Inc
01.04.2011
Elsevier |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background Recent studies have provided evidence that the renin-angiotensin system plays a key role in the onset and progression of atrial fibrillation (AF). The current study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of video-assisted minimally invasive radiofrequency ablation for long-lasting persistent AF, as well as to evaluate the efficacy of the angiotensin-receptor blocker irbesartan for maintaining sinus rhythm. Methods Over a period of 4 years, 83 patients with long-lasting persistent AF underwent minimally invasive ablation at our center. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups, one group treated with ablation plus irbesartan, and the other with ablation alone. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 3.6 years. Results No patient died postoperatively. At the end of the procedure, 38 patients (45.7%) were in sinus rhythm, and 36 (43.4%) had AF. At the last follow-up, 65 patients (80.2%) were in sinus rhythm, 38 (92.7%) in group 1 and 27 (67.5%) in group 2 ( p = 0.002). Patients in group 2 had a significantly higher rate of recurrent arrhythmia (Kaplan-Meier analysis, p = 0.004; hazard ratio, 0.24; 95% confidence interval: 0.087 to 0.637). Kaplan-Meier analysis also showed that patients treated with irbesartan had a significantly lower rate of use of antiarrhythmic drugs ( p = 0.02). Conclusions The video-assisted minimally invasive ablation procedure was safe and effective for patients with long-lasting persistent AF. Patients who were additionally treated with irbesartan had a significantly lower rate of AF recurrence than patients who were treated with ablation alone. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-News-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0003-4975 1552-6259 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2010.11.063 |