Transoesophageal echocardiography prior to catheter ablation could be avoided in atrial fibrillation patients with a low risk of stroke and without filling defects in the late-phase MDCT scan: A retrospective analysis of 783 patients

Objectives To test whether multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) could completely replace transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) to detect left atrial appendage (LAA) thrombi in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients using a large sample size. Methods 783 patients with AF who underwent MDCT and TEE before catheter ablation were retrospectively included. Demographic data were obtained. Two radiologists blinded to clinical data made the imaging diagnosis. Results Most of the patients (96.2 %) had a CHA 2 DS 2 -VASc score (congestive heart failure, hypertension, age ≥ 75 years old (doubled), diabetes, stroke/transient ischaemic attack/thromboembolism (doubled), vascular disease, age 65–74 years, female sex) ≤ 3. Eight thrombi were identified by TEE, all of which were detected by MDCT; no thrombus was observed with TEE without the observation of filling defects by late-phase MDCT scanning in any of the patients. Using TEE as reference standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of MDCT for thrombus detection were 100 %, 95.74 % (95 % CI 94.33 %–97.15 %), 19.51 % (95 % CI 16.73 %–22.29 %) and 100 %, respectively. Conclusions For AF patients with low risk of stroke, when MDCT images showed no filling defect in the late phase, TEE prior to catheter ablation can be avoided. Key Points • MDCT can help detect the presence of LAA thrombus. • TEE can be avoided when late-phase MDCT shows no filling defect. • TEE is required in patients whose MDCT images indicate thrombus.