Long-term symptom improvement and patient satisfaction after AV-node ablation vs. pulmonary vein isolation for symptomatic atrial fibrillation: results from the German Ablation Registry

Background We aimed to compare patient characteristics and outcome of patients who had either undergone pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) or AV-node ablation (AVN) to control AF-related symptoms. Methods From the German Ablation Registry, we analyzed data of 4444 patients (95%) who had undergone PVI and 234 patients (5%) with AVN. Results AVN patients were on average 10 years older than PVI patients (71 ± 10 vs. 61 ± 10 years, p 75 years. AVN patients had significantly more cardiovascular comorbidities (diabetes 21% vs. 8%, renal insufficiency 24% vs. 3%, underlying heart disease 80% vs. 36%, severely reduced left ventricular function 28% vs. 1%, all p