Clinical trial NCT02120560: Anticoagulation in AF Ablation and Effects on Neurocognitive Function
Official title: Uninterrupted Versus Interrupted Anticoagulation in Atrial Fibrillation Ablation - Cerebral Thromboemboli and Neurocognitive Performance
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: WITHDRAWN
Phase: PHASE4
Conditions: Atrial Fibrillation
Cerebrothromboembolus
Neurocognitive Function
Keywords: Atrial Fibrillation Ablation
Cerebrothromboemboli
Neurocognitive Function
Lead sponsor: University of California, San Francisco
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2014-04-22
Enrollment: 0
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in the United States, and treatment by AF ablation is quickly becoming the favored definitive therapy. Nonetheless, AF ablation comes with some risk, including bleeds related to vascular access and myocardial damage, as well as the rare incidence of clinical stroke from blood clots that travel from the heart to the brain, termed "cerebrothromboemboli." In fact, cerebrothromboemboli without any symptoms have been detected by special imaging procedures called brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in as many as 22% of cases.(1-6) There remains clinical equipoise amongst experts regarding balancing the risks and benefits of continued versus interrupted blood thinning, or "anticoagulation" during AF ablation as they pertain to risk of bleed and cerebrothromboemboli prevention, respectively, and the potentially more subtle sequelae of these apparently silent cerebrothromboemboli remain unknown. In fact, both interruption and continuation of anticoagulation during AF ablation are the standard of care. The investigators will perform the first randomized trial of uninterrupted versus interrupted anticoagulation in patients undergoing AF ablation to determine if it mitigates neurologic injury. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of continued anticoagulation for AF ablation on cerebrothromboemboli, and the neurocognitive sequelae of embolic lesions, which to this point are considered subclinical. The investigators hypothesize that continued anticoagulation will both reduce cerebrothromboemboli and mitigate any potential decline in neurocognitive function post-procedurally. The investigators also hypothesize that the incidence of cerebrothromboemboli (CTE) by MRI will mediate that difference.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients 18 years old and older with AF (paroxysmal or persistent) who are to undergo an elective AF ablation procedure at UCSF will be eligible for enrollment.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients will be excluded if they have:
* A contraindication of warfarin therapy (pregnancy, recent bleed, inability of have serial INR checks)
* A contraindication or relative contraindication to interruption of anticoagulation (e.g. mechanical valve, clotting disorder such as antiphospholipid syndrome, recent history of pulmonary embolism or history of recurrent pulmonary embolism)
* A contraindication to transesophageal echocardiogram; any contraindication to MRI
* Have a diagnosed condition of dementia or a diagnosis that precludes accurate assessment of neurocognitive function
* Non-English speakers
* Inability to give informed consent.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Incidence of stroke
timeFrame: 4 weeks
measure: Incidence of Cerebrothromboemboli
timeFrame: 1 day
measure: Change in Neurocognitive Performance
timeFrame: approximately 4 weeks
measure: Bleeding Complications
timeFrame: approximately 1 week
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: San Francisco
country: United States
facility: University of California, San Francisco
state: California
Study officials:
References:
citation: Deneke T, Shin DI, Balta O, Bunz K, Fassbender F, Mugge A, Anders H, Horlitz M, Pasler M, Karthikapallil S, Arentz T, Beyer D, Bansmann M. Postablation asymptomatic cerebral lesions: long-term follow-up using magnetic resonance imaging. Heart Rhythm. 2011 Nov;8(11):1705-11. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2011.06.030. Epub 2011 Jul 2.
citation: Gaita F, Leclercq JF, Schumacher B, Scaglione M, Toso E, Halimi F, Schade A, Froehner S, Ziegler V, Sergi D, Cesarani F, Blandino A. Incidence of silent cerebral thromboembolic lesions after atrial fibrillation ablation may change according to technology used: comparison of irrigated radiofrequency, multipolar nonirrigated catheter and cryoballoon. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2011 Sep;22(9):961-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8167.2011.02050.x. Epub 2011 Mar 31.
citation: Haeusler KG, Koch L, Herm J, Kopp UA, Heuschmann PU, Endres M, Schultheiss HP, Schirdewan A, Fiebach JB. 3 Tesla MRI-detected brain lesions after pulmonary vein isolation for atrial fibrillation: results of the MACPAF study. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2013 Jan;24(1):14-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8167.2012.02420.x. Epub 2012 Aug 22.
citation: Herrera Siklody C, Deneke T, Hocini M, Lehrmann H, Shin DI, Miyazaki S, Henschke S, Fluegel P, Schiebeling-Romer J, Bansmann PM, Bourdias T, Dousset V, Haissaguerre M, Arentz T. Incidence of asymptomatic intracranial embolic events after pulmonary vein isolation: comparison of different atrial fibrillation ablation technologies in a multicenter study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011 Aug 9;58(7):681-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2011.04.010. Epub 2011 Jun 12.
citation: Ichiki H, Oketani N, Ishida S, Iriki Y, Okui H, Maenosono R, Ninomiya Y, Matsushita T, Miyata M, Hamasaki S, Tei C. Incidence of asymptomatic cerebral microthromboembolism after atrial fibrillation ablation guided by complex fractionated atrial electrogram. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2012 Jun;23(6):567-73. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-8167.2011.02259.x. Epub 2012 Feb 7.