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Updated: Jul 15, 2025

Non-fluoroscopic Catheter Tracking for Fluoroscopy Reduction in Interventional Electrophysiology
Published on: May 26, 2015
Atrial fibrillation cycle-length (AF-CL) inside the pulmonary veins predicts paroxysmal AF ablation success- the
Marco Bergonti1,2, Ciro Ascione3,4, Paolo Compagnucci5
1Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. bergmar21@gmail.com.
Background:
A novel method to measure atrial fibrillation cycle length (AF-CL) was recently described, based on the average of 10 consecutive signals (FARS10). FARS10 accurately identified pulmonary vein isolation (PVI)-responders among patients with persistent AF. Whether this method is applicable to patients with paroxysmal AF is unknown.
Objective:
The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic value of FARS10 measurements in patients with paroxysmal AF.
Methods And Results:
We enrolled paroxysmal AF patients undergoing PVI in a prospective multicenter study. After AF induction with a standardized protocol, the AF-CL was measured using FARS-10 method. The primary endpoint was AF/AT-recurrence. One-hundred and four patients were included (61 ± 14 years, 25% females). After a mean follow-up of 12 ± 4 months, AF/AT recurrence rate was 20%. The fastest PV CL (fPV-CL) was independently associated with the primary endpoint at multivariate analysis (HR 1.02, p < 0.001). Every 10 ms increase in fPV-CL, AF recurrences increased by 20%. The value of 160 ms was found to be the optimal cut-off (specificity 81%, sensitivity 76%). Patients with fPV-CL < 160 ms experienced lower AF recurrences as compared to patients with fPV-CL > 160 ms (8% vs. 32% at 1 year; HR = 0.17, p < 0.001). Progression to persistent AF was observed in 13% of patients with fPV-CL > 160 ms.
Conclusion:
fPV-CL measured with the FARS-10 method accurately predicts PVI success in paroxysmal AF patients undergoing PVI. Patients with slow PV activity (fPV-CL > 160 ms) experience higher AF recurrence rate after PVI and more frequent progression to persistent AF.
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