Clinical trial NCT04855890: HIgh Power Short Duration Radiofrequency Ablation or Cryoballoon Ablation for Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Official title: HIgh Power Short Duration Radiofrequency Ablation or Cryoballoon Ablation for Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation - the HIPAF Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Atrial Fibrillation and Flutter
Atrial Fibrillation
Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation
Keywords: atrial fibrillation
high power short duration
pulmonary vein isolation
cryo-ablation
Lead sponsor: Universitätsklinikum Köln
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-04-22
Enrollment: 170
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The present study is a mono-center prospective randomized study enrolling 170 patients with PAF and no prior Ablation for AF.

Patients will be randomized to one of the following groups. Group A: Cryo-Ablation PVI will be performed using a Cryo-balloon. Group B: High-Power-Short-Duration PVI will be performed using HPSD RF-ablation. (70W over 5s posterior and 7s anterior) Catheter ablation procedures will be performed with commercially available devices including 3D mapping systems (EnSite, Abbott) and irrigated radiofrequency current (RFC) ablation or cryothermal balloon ablation (Arctic Front Advance Pro, Medtronic).
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) using the cryoballoon has been proven equal to RF-PVI and is widely used. High Power Short Duration Ablation in RF-PVI has been successfully tested in several trials. Prospective data comparing both strategies is lacking.

This trial will compare acute success rates, safety and foremost long-term outcome of two different PVI strategies (HPSD-PVI vs. cryo-PVI).

Detailed description: In several trials and real-life data pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) using the cryoballoon technique has been proven equal to RF-PVI for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF). Due to the "single-shot character" of the device and shorter procedure times the cryoballoon is being widely used for PVI within the last years. However, additional endpoints such as "non-excitability" of the ablation line and consecutive arrhythmias may not be targeted properly by this device also lacking a detailed contact map to evaluate potential fibrotic areas.

For the past decade, the use of RF energy for successful PVI has been the "gold standard". However, ablation time and potential gaps within the circumferential ablation line are still an issue. High power (70 Watts) over short duration (7s) (HPSD) is a recently introduced RF-PVI concept. It has been shown to be as effective as conventional RF-PVI with equal safety features, shorter procedure durations and a superior long-term outcome. Therefore, HPSD-PVI in combination with the endpoint of "non-excitability" is potentially superior with regard to freedom of atrial arrhythmia during long-term FU compared to cryo-PVI with similar procedure times.

So far, randomized prospective data comparing HPSD versus cryo-PVI are lacking.

The aim of this prospective randomized study is to compare acute success rates, safety and foremost long-term outcome of two different PVI strategies (HPSD-PVI vs. cryo-PVI):

1. To find the safest and most effective treatment strategy for PAF patients. 2. To evaluate the risk of complications for both treatment strategies.

3. Evaluation of procedure endpoints like duration, costs and radiation dose.

The present study is a mono-center prospective randomized study enrolling 170 patients with PAF and no prior Ablation for AF.

Patients will be randomized to one of the following groups. Group A: Cryo-Ablation PVI will be performed using a Cryo-balloon. Group B: High-Power-Short-Duration PVI will be performed using HPSD RF-ablation. (70W over 5s posterior and 7s anterior) Catheter ablation procedures will be performed with commercially available devices including 3D mapping systems (EnSite, Abbott) and irrigated radiofrequency current (RFC) ablation or cryothermal balloon ablation (Arctic Front Advance Pro, Medtronic).

The study shall start enrolling patients in April 2021. The last patient shall be enrolled in January 2023. Since follow-up is 12 months, end of study is planned for January 2024.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Symptomatic non-valvular atrial fibrillation with no prior ablation with an indication for re-ablation according to current guidelines.
* Age 18-85 years.
* Patient is able to provide informed consent and is willing to comply with the study protocol.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Contraindications for left atrial ablation
* History of interventional or surgical AF-ablation
* History of stroke during the past 12 months
* BMI \>40kg/m2
* History of mitral valve surgery
* Severe mitral valve regurgitation
* Inability to be treated with oral anticoagulation
* Presence of intracardiac thrombi
* Contraindication or absolute indication for one of the two strategies
* Pregnancy
* Participation in other clinical studies
* Unwilling to follow the study protocol and to attend follow-up visits

Primary outcomes:
measure: Recurrence of atrial arrhythmia
timeFrame: 12 months after a 3 months blanking period
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Periprocedural complications
timeFrame: Within 48 hours of procedure
measure: Number of re-hospitalisations
timeFrame: 12 months after a 3 months blanking period
measure: Cardioversions
timeFrame: 12 months after a 3 months blanking period
measure: Procedural data
timeFrame: During the procedure
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Cologne
country: Germany
facility: Department of electrophysiology, Heart Center Cologne, University of Cologne
state: NRW
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Cologne, Heart Center, Dept. of Electrophysiology
name: Arian Sultan, PD Dr.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: University of Cologne, Heart Center, Dept. of Electrophysiology
name: Daniel Steven, Prof. Dr.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Kirchhof P, Benussi S, Kotecha D, Ahlsson A, Atar D, Casadei B, Castella M, Diener HC, Heidbuchel H, Hendriks J, Hindricks G, Manolis AS, Oldgren J, Popescu BA, Schotten U, Van Putte B, Vardas P; ESC Scientific Document Group. 2016 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation developed in collaboration with EACTS. Eur Heart J. 2016 Oct 7;37(38):2893-2962. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehw210. Epub 2016 Aug 27. No abstract available.
citation: Kuck KH, Brugada J, Furnkranz A, Metzner A, Ouyang F, Chun KR, Elvan A, Arentz T, Bestehorn K, Pocock SJ, Albenque JP, Tondo C; FIRE AND ICE Investigators. Cryoballoon or Radiofrequency Ablation for Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation. N Engl J Med. 2016 Jun 9;374(23):2235-45. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1602014. Epub 2016 Apr 4.
citation: Murray MI, Arnold A, Younis M, Varghese S, Zeiher AM. Cryoballoon versus radiofrequency ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clin Res Cardiol. 2018 Aug;107(8):658-669. doi: 10.1007/s00392-018-1232-4. Epub 2018 Mar 21.
citation: Kottmaier M, Popa M, Bourier F, Reents T, Cifuentes J, Semmler V, Telishevska M, Otgonbayar U, Koch-Buttner K, Lennerz C, Bartkowiak M, Kornmayer M, Rousseva E, Brkic A, Grebmer C, Kolb C, Hessling G, Deisenhofer I. Safety and outcome of very high-power short-duration ablation using 70 W for pulmonary vein isolation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. Europace. 2020 Mar 1;22(3):388-393. doi: 10.1093/europace/euz342.