Usefulness of the Atrial Emptying Fraction to Predict Maintenance of Sinus Rhythm After Direct Current Cardioversion for Atrial Fibrillation.

Atrial volumes indexed to body surface area (AVI) are robust predictors of nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after direct current cardioversion (DCCV). The incremental value of atrial emptying fraction (EmF) compared with atrial volumes as a predictor for recurrent AF after DCCV has not been evaluated. We sought to compare the predictive ability of baseline left atrial (LA) EmF, right atrial (RA) EmF, LAVI, and RAVI for post-DCCV AF recurrence at 6 months. The first 95 patients enrolled in the AF Clinic Registry with adequate echocardiogram imaging constituted the study cohort. Each patient underwent echocardiogram within 6 months before cardioversion. Maximal LAVI and RAVI, LA EmF, and RA EmF were performed offline using 4-chamber single-plane Simpson's method, averaged over 5 cycles. The mean age of the study cohort was 64 ± 12 years, and 67% were men. Only 28 patients (29%) who underwent DCCV remained in sinus rhythm at 6 months of follow-up. The remaining, 67 (71%) had reverted to AF or underwent ablation during the 6 months of follow-up. The overall performance for prediction of AF recurrence was greatest for RA EmF, area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC): RA EmF 0.92, LA EmF 0.89, RAVI 0.76, and LAVI 0.63. RA and LA EmF AUCs were significantly higher than for LAVI or RAVI (max p = 0.02). In conclusion, although RAVI and LAVI are strong predictors of AF recurrence after DCCV, RA and LA EmF outperformed in this cohort.

Right atrial volume is superior to left atrial volume for prediction of atrial fibrillation recurrence after direct current cardioversion.

BACKGROUND: The value of right atrial volume as a predictor for recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) after direct current cardioversion (DCCV) is unknown. METHODS: We sought to compare the performance of right atrial volume indexed to body surface area (RAVI), left atrial diameter, left atrial volume indexed to body surface area (LAVI), and biatrial volume index (BAVI) for the prediction of AF recurrence at 6 months after DCCV. This study included the first 95 consecutive patients from the AF Clinic at a large tertiary care hospital who underwent DCCV and who had an echocardiogram available within 6 months before DCCV. Maximal LAVI, RAVI, and BAVI were determined from the echocardiogram before DCCV. Electrocardiographic and clinical data were acquired at baseline, before cardioversion, and at each clinic visit. RESULTS: Of the 95 patients (64 male; mean age, 63 ± 12 years), history of systemic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, and transient ischemic attack/stroke was present in 60 (63%), 14 (15%), 27 (28%), and 5 (5%) patients, respectively. Mean duration from AF diagnosis to DCCV was 3.5 ± 5.0 years. At 6 months after DCCV, 53 (56%) had reverted to AF. RAVI had superior predictive ability (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve: RAVI, 0.77; left atrial diameter, 0.54; LAVI, 0.64; and BAVI, 0.70). RAVI ≥ 42 mL/m(2) provided the best accuracy for prediction of recurrence (76% accuracy, 71% sensitivity, 83% specificity, 90% positive predictive value, and 56% negative predictive value). Best accuracy for LAVI was ≥ 48 mL/m(2) (70% accuracy, 53% sensitivity, 79% specificity, 85% positive predictive value; 43% negative predictive value). CONCLUSIONS: RAVI is superior to LAVI for the prediction of AF recurrence at 6 months after DCCV.