Abstract 20134: Can Cryoballoon Ablation Isolate the Left Atrial Posterior Wall Including the Pulmonary Veins for Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation?

Introduction: Pulmonary vein (PV) isolation with cryoballoon ablation (CRA) has been introduced and proven useful for curing atrial fibrillation (AF). Isolating the left atrial posterior wall (LAPW) including the PVs with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) has been reported to be a useful method to increase a success rate of curing AF, because the LAPW plays an important role for AF pathophysiology. In RFA isolation lines can be arbitrary, while an isolation area by CRA is usually limited by the anatomical relation between the cryoballoon and the PV ostium. Whether CRA can isolate the LAPW is unknown. Methods: Consecutive 39 patients underwent CRA (28 mm, Arctic Front Advance) for paroxysmal AF. Simplified PV isolation with CRA was performed in initial 11 patients (PCr-Group, 8 men, 63 y/o). In the rest of 28 patients we ablated the LAPW additionaly with the cryoballoon by pushing the cryoballoon toward the LAPW after PV isolation (WCr-Group, 17 men, 65 y/o). From the post-ablation voltage map (EnSite NavX sys...