Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2024; 121(4): e20240355

Can Pre-Ablation Serum Biomarkers be Used to Predict Arrhythmia Recurrence after Ablation Index-Guided Atrial Fibrillation Ablation?

Muhieddine Omar Chokr

DOI: 10.36660/abc.20240355i

This Short Editorial is referred by the Research article "Can Pre-Ablation Biomarkers Be Used to Predict Arrhythmia Recurrence after Ablation Index-Guided Atrial Fibrillation Ablation?".

Invasive treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) has been established as the most effective treatment in controlling and curing this arrhythmia. In most cases, triggers originating from the pulmonary veins are responsible for triggering AF in its paroxysmal form. In its persistent form, different electrophysiological mechanisms are involved. The longer the evolution time, the more complex the invasive treatment strategy becomes. Despite the technological evolution with different electroanatomical mapping systems and the formation of increasingly effective radiofrequency lesions in the atrium wall, recurrences remain a challenge to be avoided.

Creating long-lasting ablation lesions during pulmonary vein isolation for AF is of critical importance to prevent late vein reconnection. Such reconnection is responsible for the vast majority of arrhythmia recurrences in patients with paroxysmal AF. Despite technological improvements, the proportion of veins that remain chronically isolated after radiofrequency ablation is still disappointingly low. This has led to great interest in producing more effective ablation lesions.

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