This review article provides an overview on the published clinical risk scores related to outcomes of rhythm control strategy or AF progression
Patients with atrial fibrillation ( AF ) are commonly managed with rhythm control strategy , but the natural history of this common arrhythmia leads itself to progression from paroxysmal to persistent or permanent AF , and recurrences are evident despite rhythm control treatments using cardioversion or catheter ablation .
Numerous clinical factors have been associated with outcomes of rhythm control or arrhythmia progression in patients with AF .
The more common factors have been used to formulate risk stratification scores , to help predict the outcomes of rhythm control treatments  or AF progression .
Experience matters: long-term results of pulmonary vein isolation using a robotic navigation system for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation
Background Long-term results after circumferential pulmonary vein isolation ( CPVI ) for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation ( PAF ) using a robotic navigation system ( RNS ) have not yet been reported . Objective To evaluate long-term results of patients with PAF after CPVI using RNS .  Methods In this study , 200 patients ( n = 151 ( 75.5 % ) male ; median age 62.2 ( 54.7–67.7 ) years ) with PAF were evaluated . In 100 patients , RNS ( RN-group ) was used for CPVI and compared to 100 manually ablated control patients ( MN-group ) . Radiofrequency was used in conjunction with 3D electroanatomic mapping . Power was limited to 30 watts ( W ) at the posterior left atrial ( LA ) wall in the first 49 RNS patients ( RN-group-a ) . After esophageal perforation occurred in one RN-group-a patient , maximum power was reduced to 20 W for the subsequent 51 patients ( RN-group-b ) . Results After a median follow-up of 2 years , single ( 77/100 vs 77/100 , p = 0.89 ) and multiple ( 90/100 vs 93/100 , p = 0.29 ) procedure success rates were comparable between RN-group and MN-group . Single procedure success rate was significantly lower in RN-group-a as compared to RN-group-b ( 65.3 vs 88.2 % , p = 0.047 ) . In RN-group-a patients , procedural times [ 200 ( 170–230 ) vs 152 ( 132–200 ) minutes , p < 0.01 ] and fluoroscopy times [ 16.6 ( 12.9–21.6 ) minutes vs 13.7 ( 9.5–19 ) minutes , p = 0.043 ] were significantly longer compared to RN-group-b patients . Conclusion Long-term success rate after CPVI using RNS was comparable to manual ablation . Despite a lower power limit of 20 W at the posterior LA wall , single procedure success rate was higher in RN-group-b as compared to RN-group-a . Procedure time and fluoroscopy time decreased , whilst success rate increased with increasing experience in the RN-group
This review article provides an overview on the published clinical risk scores related to outcomes of rhythm control strategy or AF progression
Patients with atrial fibrillation ( AF ) are commonly managed with rhythm control strategy , but the natural history of this common arrhythmia leads itself to progression from paroxysmal to persistent or permanent AF , and recurrences are evident despite rhythm control treatments using cardioversion or catheter ablation .
Numerous clinical factors have been associated with outcomes of rhythm control or arrhythmia progression in patients with AF .
The more common factors have been used to formulate risk stratification scores , to help predict the outcomes of rhythm control treatments  or AF progression .