5. Discussion
This observational study in 279 patients who underwent initial AF ablation investigated the association between LACV and AF recurrence. Three main findings were obtained: a slow LACV on both anterior and posterior routes was significantly associated with AF recurrence; an anterior LACV < 0.87 m/s independently predicted AF recurrence; and patients with low-voltage areas in the anterior regions demonstrated a slower anterior LACV. The finding that a slow LACV in the entire left atrium is an excellent predictor of AF recurrence after PVI suggests the necessity of additional ablations. To our knowledge, this is the first clinical study to investigate the association between LACV and AF recurrence.