Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 21, 2026

Catheter Ablation in Combination With Left Atrial Appendage Closure for Atrial Fibrillation
Published on: February 26, 2013
Early-onset Atrial Fibrillation in Brothers with a Huge Left Atrial Appendage
Tetsuma Kawaji1, Satoshi Shizuta, Takeru Makiyama
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
Abstract:
Having a relative with atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the risk factors for AF development, especially in young patients, which is known as familial AF. Although familial AF is considered to be associated with inherited factors, its genetic and pathophysiological backgrounds have not been fully identified. We report two young brothers undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation for AF, who had a huge left atrial appendage (LAA). In both cases, the origins of the main triggers of the AF were not the huge LAA itself, but left pulmonary veins compressed by the LAA. Since catheter ablation including pulmonary vein isolation, the sinus rhythm has been maintained in both patients.

