Left Ventricular Diffuse Ventricular Fibrosis Predicts Success Of Catheter Ablation For Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Objecctive: Cardiac magnetic resonance(CMR) imaging provides detailed tissue characterization, identifying diffuse fibrosis with T1 mapping. This study aimed to evaluate diffuse myocardial fibrosis in the left ventricle(LV) with CMR, and to investigate the relationship between extracellular volume fraction(ECV) with recurrence of atrial fibrillation(AF)after radiofrequency catheter ablation in the patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.Methods:Thirty-two healthy persons and eighty patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation(RFCA)for atrial fibrillation were performed preprocedure CMR to determine ventricular T1 time and calculate ECV. All patients were followed up routinely.Results:At a mean follow-up of 8.9 ± 3.1months,AF was developed in 25 patients(31.25%). After multivariate analysis, ECV exceed 28.71%(HR 8.185;95.0% CI 1.891-35.431) and left atrium dimension(LAD)( HR 1.056; 95.0% CI 1.003-1.096)were the independent predictors of recurrence of AF.Conclusions:Increased ECV detected by CMR is associated with AF recurrence after RFCA in the patients with persistent AF.