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Updated: Feb 20, 2026
Direct Pressure Monitoring Accurately Predicts Pulmonary Vein Occlusion During Cryoballoon Ablation
Published on: February 26, 2013
Pulmonary vein isolation using multi-electrode radiofrequency vs conventional point-by-point radiofrequency ablation:
Dursun Aras1, Serkan Topaloglu1, Serkan Cay1
1Department of Cardiology, Division of Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Yuksek Ihtisas Heart-Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Aims:
Pulmonary vein isolation is effective in reducing atrial fibrillation (AF) episodes. Previous studies suggest single-shot techniques are effective and safe for this purpose. Procedural and clinical outcomes were compared between multi-electrode and point-by-point radiofrequency ablations by performing a meta-analysis of all randomized and non-randomized studies.
Methods And Results:
Systematic reviews of MEDLINE and Cochrane Library databases were performed. Studies comparing procedural (procedure and fluoroscopy times) and clinical (AF recurrence) outcomes were included in the meta-analysis. A total of 13 clinical studies (5 randomized and 8 non-randomized) including 2152 patients met the inclusion criteria. In patients underwent multi-electrode ablation, there were significant reductions in both total procedure and fluoroscopy times, compared with point-by-point ablation (mean difference = -34.3 min [95% CI (-50.1 to -18.5)], p < 0.001 and mean difference = -7.1 min [95% CI (-12.0 to -2.2)], p < 0.01, respectively). These significances also continued in patients with paroxysmal AF. No such difference was observed in regard to AF recurrence between the 2 ablation strategies (RR = 0.90 [95% CI (0.80-1.01)], p = 0.066). This insignificance was also observed in patients with paroxysmal AF.
Conclusions:
In a heterogeneous AF population, multi-electrode ablation is as effective as point-by-point ablation, with better procedural and fluoroscopy durations.
