A left common pulmonary vein: Anatomical variant predicting good outcomes of repeat catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.

Introduction: A left common pulmonary vein (LCPV) is a common anatomical variant in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients. Whether an LCPV influences outcomes of repeated radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for AF has not been elucidated.

Methods: From a prospectively collected database, we enrolled 154 patients who received repeated RFCA for recurrent AF after the initial RFCA (56 ± 9 years, 72% paroxysmal AF, 32 patients with an LCPV, and 122 patients with typical left-sided pulmonary veins [PVs]). Median postprocedural follow-up was 26 months. The primary outcome was an episode of AF, atrial tachyarrhythmia, or atrial flutter lasting for more than 30 seconds, after the 3 months blanking period following the repeated procedure.

Results: After the follow-up period, 75 patients suffered recurrence after repeated ablation. In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, an LCPV was significantly associated with less recurrence (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28-0.79; P = 0.005). In subgroup analysis, the significant association persisted in paroxysmal AF patients. Regarding persistent AF patients, an LCPV tended to be associated with less recurrence with no statistical significance (HR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.20-1.03; P = 0.067). In multivariate analyses, an LCPV still independently predicted freedom from recurrence (HR: 0.44; 95% CI: 0.22-0.88; P = 0.02).

Conclusion: Compared with typical left-sided PVs, an LCPV was independently associated with better outcomes after repeated RFCA of AF, particularly in patients with paroxysmal AF.