Efficacy and safety of anticoagulant therapy in real clinical practice in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation after interventional treatment

Aim. To study the efficacy and safety of anticoagulant therapy in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) after interventional treatment during 36 months of follow-up.

Material and methods. The study included 135 patients (78 men and 58 women) in the age from 31 to 80 years (mean age 61.0 [55; 66]) with persistent AF who underwent catheter treatment. All patients were treated in the arrhythmia department of the Research Institute of Cardiology (Tomsk National Research Medical Center from 01.01.2017 to 31.12.2017.

Results. In patients with persistent AF, the effectiveness of catheter treatment was 60% after 12 months of follow-up (81 patients had no documented AF during this period) and 63.7 % (n=86) - after 24 and 36 months. No fatal outcomes, myocardial infarction, or ischemic stroke were observed within 12 months after catheter treatment in patients with an effective procedure. During 36 months of follow-up, the incidence of ischemic stroke on the background of receiving anticoagulant therapy and effective catheter treatment of persistent AF was significantly lower than in patients with unsuccessful ablation (1.16% and 10%, respectively), even though not all patients from the first group received prescribed medication.

Conclusion. Successful radiofrequency procedure/cryo-ablation of AF persistent form significantly reduced the risk of ischemic stroke from 10% to 1.16% and almost eliminated the likelihood of other thromboembolic complications, while the invasive strategy did not increase the risk of large and small bleeding in this group of patients.

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