Repeat ablation
Patients scheduled for repeat ablation were admitted the day before the
procedure. Blood, electrocardiography, and echocardiography testing were
performed in the same manner as in the initial session. Updated
information on oral anticoagulant use and baseline characteristics just
before the repeat procedure was obtained from the medical records. TEE
was also performed within 24 hours of the repeat ablation. Transthoracic
echocardiography and contrast-enhanced CT images were generally examined
within a week before ablation. Although the decision about the type of
imaging examination performed, including TEE and/or CT imaging, was made
depending on the patients’ condition and was left to the discretion of
the attending physician, both TEE and CT examinations were planned in
most patients, if applicable. The final confirmation of thrombi presence
was assessed by TEE examination in cases with a possibility of presence
of thrombi in any imaging study, as performed in the first session.