Improvement in Quality of Life After Catheter Ablation for Paroxysmal Versus Long-standing Persistent Atrial Fibrillation: A Prospective Study With 3-Year Follow-up

Background-—Changes in quality of life (QoL) after catheter ablation for long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation (LSPAF) are not well described. We sought to compare QoL improvement after catheter ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) versus that after LSPAF. Methods and Results-—A total of 261 PAF and 126 LSPAF ablation recipients were prospectively followed for arrhythmia recurrence, QoL, hospital stay, and sick leave. In PAF versus LSPAF groups, 1.30.6 versus 1.60.7 procedures were performed per patient (P<0.00001) during a 3-year follow-up. Good arrhythmia control was achieved in 86 % versus 87 % of patients (P=0.69) and in 69 % versus 69 % of patients not receiving antiarrhythmic drugs (P=0.99). The baseline QoL was better in the PAF than in the LSPAF group (European Quality of Life Group instrument self-report questionnaire visual analog scale: 66.414.2 versu