This multicenter, randomized study included 136 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AFib) undergoing circumferential pulmonary vein isolation using contact force monitoring (CFM) ablation catheters, comparing their outcomes to those undergoing isolation using unipolar signal modification (USM)-guided ablation. Patients were assigned to either CFM-guided ablation (n=70) or USM-guided ablation (n=66). The primary end point was freedom from any atrial tachyarrhythmia recurrence without antiarrhythmic drugs at 12 months follow-up. The results suggested that USM-guided ablation was superior to CFM-guided ablation for radiofrequency time during isolation. “USM was superior to CFM as an end point for radiofrequency energy deliveries during the pulmonary vein isolation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in terms of the 12-month recurrence-free rate,” the researchers concluded.
Ejima K, et al. . Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2019;doi:10.1161/CIRCEP.119.007311
