Effects of atrial fibrillation ablation on arrhythmia burden and ventricular function in end-stage heart failure: Lessons from CASTLE-HTx.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

The CASTLE-HTx trial showed the benefit of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation compared to medical therapy in decreasing mortality, need for left ventricular assist device implantation or heart transplantation (HTx) in patients with end-stage heart failure (HF). Herein we describe the effects of catheter ablation on AF burden, arrhythmia recurrences, and ventricular function in end-stage HF.

Methods and results

The CASTLE-HTx protocol randomized 194 patients in end-stage HF with AF to catheter ablation and medical therapy or medical therapy alone. AF burden, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and type of AF were assessed at baseline and at each follow-up visit. Overall, 97 patients received ablation; 66 patients (68%) underwent pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) and 3

SUBMITTER: Sciacca V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11860721 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature