Duty-cycled bipolar/unipolar radiofrequency ablation for symptomatic atrial fibrillation induces significant pulmonary vein narrowing at long-term follow-up

AIMS: A novel duty-cycled bipolar/unipolar ablation catheter pulmonary vein ablation catheter (PVAC) has been developed to achieve pulmonary vein (PV) isolation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Ablation with PVAC was recently found to induce PV narrowing at 3 months follow-up. The long-term effects of this catheter on PV dimensions are however unknown and were evaluated with this study. METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients (n = 62, 71% male, …