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European Radiology
Published in: European Radiology 2/2017

01-02-2017 | Computed Tomography

Assessments of pulmonary vein and left atrial anatomical variants in atrial fibrillation patients for catheter ablation with cardiac CT

Authors: Jing Chen, Zhi-Gang Yang, Hua-Yan Xu, Ke Shi, Qi-Hua Long, Ying-Kun Guo

Published in: European Radiology | Issue 2/2017

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Abstract

Objectives

To provide a road map of pulmonary vein (PV) and left atrial (LA) variants in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) before catheter ablation procedure using cardiac CT.

Methods

Cardiac CT was performed in 1420 subjects for accurate anatomical information, including 710 patients with AF and 710 matched controls without AF. PV variants, PV ostia and spatial orientation, LA enlargement, and left atrial diverticulum (LAD) were measured, respectively. Differences between these two groups were also respectively compared. Some risk factors for the occurrence of LAD were analyzed.

Results

In total, PV variants were observed in 202 (28.5 %) patients with AF patients and 206 (29.0 %) controls without AF (p = 0.8153). The ostial sizes of all accessory veins were generally smaller than those of the typical four PVs (p = 0.0153 to 0.3958). There was a significant difference of LA enlargement between the AF and control groups (36.3 % vs. 12.5 %, p < 0.0001), while the prevalence of LAD was similar in these two groups (43.2 % vs. 41.9 %, p = 0.6293).

Conclusion

PV variants are common. Detailed knowledge of PVs and LA variants are helpful for providing anatomical road map to determine ablation strategy.

Key points

• PVs variants are helpful for providing anatomical road map to ablation.
• PV variants are common.
• DSCT could recognize these anatomic features before ablation as a non-invasive imaging.
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Metadata
Title
Assessments of pulmonary vein and left atrial anatomical variants in atrial fibrillation patients for catheter ablation with cardiac CT
Authors
Jing Chen
Zhi-Gang Yang
Hua-Yan Xu
Ke Shi
Qi-Hua Long
Ying-Kun Guo
Publication date
01-02-2017
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Radiology / Issue 2/2017
Print ISSN: 0938-7994
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1084
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-016-4411-6

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