Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Heart Failure
In the last years, atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) have been the two major epidemic syndromes in cardiology and they frequently coexist. HF increases mean right and left atria pressures promoting their progressive dilation. Such mechanical electro-anatomic remodeling predisposes to atrial fibrosis and electrical heterogeneity, increases ectopic rhythm formation and ultimately induces AF.
A new AF episode, in turn, immediately induces loss of atrial contraction, increases mean heart rate and provokes an important irregularity on ventricular contractions decreasing the heart’s pump function performance. Therefore, around 50% of patients who present with new-onset congestive HF have atrial fibrillation and up to one-third of patients with new-onset AF have congestive heart failure.
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