Ablation of atrial fibrillation with cryoballoon or duty-cycled radiofrequency pulmonary vein ablation catheter: a randomized controlled study comparing the clinical outcome and safety; the AF-COR study

Abstract

Both catheters proved comparably effective and safe in achieving acute PVI, apart from the shorter fluoroscopy times achieved with the cryoballoon. At follow-up, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups regarding freedom from AF and clinical success. The QoL increased to the same levels as for the general Swedish population in both groups.

Early Recurrence After Pulmonary Vein Isolation of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation With Different Ablation Technologies – Prospective Comparison of Radiofrequency vs. Second-Generation Cryoballoon Ablation –

“…Malmborg et al did not find any major differences in the overall activation of the coagulation system between cryoablation (1st-generation CB) and RF ablation (multielectrode RF catheter), even though the CB caused more pronounced myocardial destruction than RF. 18 Our result of comparable prothrombotic marker values despite more pro- …”

Design and Baseline Patient Characteristics of the Prospective, Observational, Multicenter and Multinational Cohort Study Comparing Radiofrequency with Cryoablation for Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation—The Freeze Cohort Study

“…Another serious complication is the development of pulmonary vein stenosis with an expected incidence up to 3% of patients post CA [10] [14]. The intra PV balloon inflation may have a causal relationship to this adverse event.…”

Multielectrode Pulmonary Vein Isolation Versus Single Tip Wide Area Catheter Ablation-Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation

“…More trials are underway to report on similar comparisons of cryo versus radiofrequency or even among single-shot devices. [7][8][9] Most of these are designed to demonstrate noninferiority to the control group with regard to the most important end point of freedom from arrhythmia.…”

“…This is probably why the procedure times are shorter in comparison with previous trials using PVAC. 7,10 In comparison, the control-irrigated radiofrequency group received more fluoroscopy exposure, which is somewhat surprising, given the fact that after the transseptal puncture an experienced operator essentially does not need to use fluoroscopy at all. 11,12 This author's own experience used to range around 15 minutes average fluoroscopy time (when still performing PV angiography) and is now <10 minutes total exposure since using 3-dimensional image integration in nearly all cases.…”