Study population
We performed a retrospective analysis of data collected from a catheter
ablation database at the Nagoya University Hospital in Japan. This study
was approved by our institutional ethics committee. We included a total
of 35 patients in this study who were undergoing radiofrequency catheter
ablation for persistent AF and baseline CARTOFINDER mapping between May
2020 and December 2020 at the Nagoya University Hospital. Six patients
were excluded due to significant noise on unipolar electrograms that
were difficult to analyze (n = 2) and insufficient mapping of the entire
left atrium (LA) (n = 4). The indications for catheter ablation for AF
were based on recent guidelines.2 Patient
characteristics and examination data were collected from the patients’
medical records. Written informed consent was obtained from all patients
prior to the ablation procedure. The study was performed in accordance
with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.