Loading...
Improvement of symptoms is the standard indication for ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). In randomized, controlled trials comparing ablation with antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy, ablation was associated with fewer symptomatic AF episodes. However, whether this translates to an improvement in quality of life is less clear. In a Scandinavian multisite study, 155 patients with ≥6 months of AF and failure of medical therapy were randomized to AF ablation or additional AAD (age range, 30–70; left-ventricular ejection fraction, ≥35%).
In the optimized AAD group, 8 patients crossed over to ablation, and 43 experienced clinical failure of the first new AAD. Quality of life, as assessed by the General Health subscale of the Medical Outcomes Stu…