2. Introduction
Catheter ablation has become a mainstream treatment option for atrial fibrillation (AF). Electrical pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is well established as the cornerstone of AF ablation.1, 2However, frequent AF recurrence after ablation remains an unsolved problem, with reported 1-year AF recurrence rates of 20-50%.2-4 Several previous reports suggested that patients with AF recurrence after ablation have a prolonged P-wave duration.5-7 Atrial conduction disturbance is considered the underlying mechanism of P-wave prolongation, and might be associated with the arrhythmogenic substrate maintaining AF. However, little is known about the impact of endocardial conduction velocity after PVI and remaining arrhythmogenic substrate in the left atrium.
Atrial high-resolution mapping with a 3-dimensional mapping system and multipolar mapping catheter facilitates measurement of whole left atrial conduction velocity (LACV) calculated from a precise conduction time and distance between two designated points. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the association between LACV and AF recurrence after PVI.