“…Serial electrocardiograms, Holter recordings, and the medical records were used to confirm that AF had lasted for more than 1 year. Patients excluded were those with: (1) New York Heart Association functional classification (NYHA) III or IV, (2) infiltrative cardiomyopathy, (3) prior open heart surgery, (4) pacemaker implantation, (5) congenital heart disease, (6) end-stage renal disease or liver cirrhosis, and (7) malignancy. Patients with incomplete image acquisition and less than 6-month follow-up were not enrolled (Fig.…”