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Background: Managing patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and comorbid heart failure (HF) with reduced (HFrEF) or mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) is of clinical importance but a great challenge. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical benefit of the combined radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) and left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) procedure in AF patients complicated with systolic HF. Methods: AF patients with HFrEF or HFmrEF who underwent the combined RFCA and LAAC procedure were prospectively enrolled in the LAACablation registry. The procedural complications and long-term outcomes were evaluated. Another cohort of AF patients with systolic HF who did not undergo either RFCA or LAAC were used for prognosis comparison. Results: Among 802 AF patients who underwent the combined procedure, 65 patients were comorbid with systolic HF (25 with HFrEF and 40 with HFmrEF). The overall procedural complication rate was 9.2%, which was mainly attributed to acute decompensated HF (6.2%). Accompanied with markedly reduced AF burden (from median [25th, 75th percentile]: 100 [100, 100] to 0 [0, 1.2]%, p < 0.001), upward trajectories of cardiac function were observed in 51 (78.4%) patients, showing improvement in New York Heart Classification (p < 0.01), natriuretic peptide levels (from 1492 [809, 3259] to 413 [163, 880] pg/mL, p < 0.001) and left ventricular EF (from 42.6 ± 5.3 to 53.8 ± 8.2%, p < 0.001). During the 27-month follow-up period, death, thromboembolism, major bleeding, and HF rehospitalization were observed in three, one, one, and four patients, respectively. The observed event rates showed a significant reduction compared with the non-procedure AF-HF cohort (n = 138; for composite endpoint: hazard ratio: 2.509, 95% confidence interval: 1.415–4.449, p = 0.002) and with the respective rates predicted by risk scores. Conclusions: Combining RFCA and LAAC achieves acceptable safety and credible long-term efficacy in AF patients with systolic HF. Further randomized studies are warranted in a larger patient cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Activation mapping of premature atrial complexes (PACs) proves challenging due to interference by mechanical bumping and non-targeted ectopies. This study aims to compare the mapping efficacy, instant success, and long-term recurrence of catheter ablation for PACs with non-pulmonary vein (PV) and non-superior vena cava (SVC) origins between the novel dual-reference approach (DRA) and the routine single-reference approach (SRA) of mapping. Methods and results Patients with symptomatic, drug-refractory PACs, or frequent residual PACs after atrial tachyarrhythmia ablation were enrolled. During activation mapping, the coronary sinus (CS) catheter was used as the only timing reference in the SRA group. In the DRA group, another catheter, which was spatially separated from the CS catheter, was used as the second reference. The timing difference between the two references was used to discriminate the targeted PACs from the uninterested rhythms. Procedural parameters and long-term recurrence were compared. A total of 188 patients (109 in SRA and 79 in DRA) were enrolled. The baseline characteristics were similar. Compared with the SRA group, the DRA group had less repeated mapping (1.2 ± 0.4 vs. 1.4 ± 0.5, P = 0.004), shorter mapping (15 ± 6 vs. 23 ± 7 min, P < 0.001) and procedural time (119 ± 28 vs. 132 ± 22 min, P = 0.001), similar procedural complication rates (3.6 vs. 3.8%, P > 0.999), higher instant success (96.2 vs. 87.2%, P = 0.039), and lower recurrence rate (15.2 vs. 29.3%, hazard ratio 1.943, P = 0.033) during a 24-month follow-up. Conclusion As a novel strategy, the DRA shortens the procedural time and improves both instant and long-term success of PAC ablation, serving as a promising approach in mapping PACs with non-PV and non-SVC origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims  We evaluated the feasibility of left atrial appendage (LAA) closure guided by the image fusion of integrating fluoroscopy into 3D computed tomography (CT). Methods and results  A total of 117 consecutive patients who underwent LAA closure with or without the image fusion were matched (1:2). Each LAA closure step of the Image fusion group was guided by the preprocedure CT and image fusion, especially in the plan of LAA measurement and transseptal puncture. All patients were successfully implanted with a WATCHMAN closure device. Comparing the two groups, the mean number of recapture times and the number of devices per patient of the Image fusion group were significantly lower (0.4 ± 0.5 vs. 0.7 ± 0.8, P  = 0.031 and 1.0 ± 0.2 vs. 1.1 ± 0.3, P  = 0.027, respectively). The one-time successful deployment rate by the support of the image fusion was higher than in the control group (66.7% vs. 44.9%, P  = 0.026). Each case of the Image fusion group was completely occluded with one transseptal puncture, while five of the Non-image fusion group required redo transseptal punctures. During the 45-day follow-up, both group cases presented occlusion efficiency and no major adverse cardiac events were observed. Conclusion  Image fusion technique integrating fluoroscopy into the 3D CT is safe and feasible which can be easily incorporated into the procedural work-flow of percutaneous LAA closure. The fusion image can play an important alternative role in the plan of LAA measurement and transseptal puncture site for improving the LAA closure procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AFCA) and left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) exert opposite effects on left atrial (LA) size. We aim to observe the net impact of combined AFCA and LAAC strategy on LA size and explore those factors which might affect the postprocedure LA structural remodeling. Methods: A total of 53 patients, who underwent combined AFCA and Watchman LAAC in our center from March to December 2017, were enrolled. Atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence was monitored after the procedure. Left atrial volume (LAV) and left atrial appendage volume (LAAV) were measured by Mimics based on dual‐source computed tomography images. Results: At 6 months, sinus rhythm (SR) was maintained in 79.2% patients. LAV was significantly reduced (130.2 ± 36.3 mL to 107.1 ± 30.0 ml; P < .001) in SR maintenance group, but not in AF recurrence group (138.8 ± 39.3 mL to 137.9 ± 36.9 mL; P = .671). In SR group, preoperative LAAV/LAV ratio (B = −0.894; P = .015), NT‐proBNP (B = 0.005; P = .019) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (B = −0.778; P < .001) could interactively affect the extent of postoperative LA structural reverse remodeling, among which LAAV/LAV ratio could independently predict the significance of reverse remodeling (≥15% reduction in LAV) (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.34‐0.90; P = .018). A preoperative LAAV/LAV ratio less than 7.1% is indicative of significant LA structural reverse remodeling in this patient cohort. Conclusions: LA structural reverse remodeling could be evidenced in patients with maintained SR following combined AFCA and LAAC. Smaller LAAV/LAV ratio, higher NT‐proBNP or lower LVEF at baseline are associated with more significant LA structural reverse remodeling, while LAAV/LAV ratio can predict the significance of the process after one‐stop treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Myocardial infarction (MI) induces neural remodelling of the left stellate ganglion (LSG), which may contribute to ischaemia-induced arrhythmias. The neural chemorepellent Semaphorin 3a (Sema3a) has been identified as a negative regulator of sympathetic innervation in the LSG and heart. We previously reported that overexpression of Sema3a in the border zone could reduce the arrhythmogenic effects of cardiac sympathetic hyperinnervation post-MI. This study investigated whether Sema3a overexpression within the LSG confers an antiarrhythmic effect after MI through decreasing extra- and intra-cardiac neural remodelling.Methods and Results: Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to MI, and randomly allocated to intra-LSG microinjection of either phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), adenovirus encoding green fluorescent protein (AdGFP), or adenovirus encoding Sema3a (AdSema3a). Sham-operated rats served as controls. Two weeks after infarction, MI-induced nerve sprouting and sympathetic hyperinnervation in the LSG and myocardium were significantly attenuated by intra-LSG injection with AdSema3a, as assessed by immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis of growth-associated protein 43 and tyrosine hydroxylase. This was also confirmed by sympathetic nerve function changes assessed by cardiac norepinephrine content. Additionally, intra-LSG injection with AdSema3a alleviated MI-induced accumulation of dephosphorylated connexin 43 in the infarct border zone. Furthermore, Sema3a overexpression in the LSG reduced the incidence of inducible ventricular tachyarrhythmia by programmed electrical stimulation post-MI, and arrhythmia scores were significantly lower in the AdSema3a group than in the PBS and AdGFP groups.Conclusion: Semaphorin 3a overexpression in the LSG ameliorates the inducibility of ventricular arrhythmias after MI, mainly through attenuation of neural remodelling within the cardiac-neuraxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]