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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A newer procedure that targets pulmonary veins may be more beneficial to patients with atrial fibrillation than a more traditional approach, new research shows.
In a recent study, researchers compared the success rate of patients with atrial fibrillation, a type of abnormal heart rhythm, following pulmonary-vein PV isolation with that of patients following the more traditional procedure of atrioventricular-node (AV) node ablation and defibrillator implantation.
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In PV isolation, the pulmonary veins, or veins that pump blood from the lungs into the heart, are ablated, or scarred so impulses cant get through. In AV node ablation, the entire AV node is ablated in an attempt to normalize conduction of electricity in the heart. In AV node ablation, defibrillators are usually implanted. Their purpose is to shock the heart when abnormal rhythms take place.
Results show following surgery, patients who underwent PV isolation had a better quality of life; a higher ejection fraction, a measure of how much blood is expelled from the heart during a heartbeat; and better results on a 6-minute walk test. Researchers also found a high incidence of progression of atrial fibrillation following AV node ablation.
In addition, the pulmonary-vein-isolation strategy resulted in high rates of freedom from both atrial fibrillation and antiarrhythmic medications, study authors wrote. In such a population, pulmonary-vein isolation should be strongly considered at experienced centers.
For many types of arrhythmias, catheter ablation is successful in 90 to 98 percent of cases and eliminates the need for open-heart surgeries or long-term drug therapies, according to the Heart Rhythm Society.
SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;359:1778-1785
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