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Studies comparing ablation with drug therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) have generally enrolled patients only after they have failed an antiarrhythmic drug (AAD), which might have skewed the results in favor of ablation. Researchers compared these approaches among drug-naive individuals with paroxysmal AF in two manufacturer-supported, simultaneously published, randomized, controlled trials. The studies have several similarities: Both randomized participants to cryoablation or AADs, standard cryoablation techniques were used, and efficacy was determined after a blanking period of 3 months. Also, participants' average age was about 60, and they had preserved left ventricular ejection fraction.
In EARLY-AF, which enrolled 303 patients (NCT02…