Illustrated Atlas of Post-AF Ablation Cerebral Abnormalities

Fiorenzo Gaita; Maria Consuelo Valentini; Laura Corsinovi; Martina Pianelli; Davide Castagno; Federico Cesarani; Marco Scaglione

doi:10.1016/j.ccep.2013.11.002

Illustrated Atlas of Post-AF Ablation Cerebral Abnormalities

Card Electrophysiol Clin. 2014 Mar;6(1):101-10. doi: 10.1016/j.ccep.2013.11.002.

Authors

Fiorenzo Gaita¹, Maria Consuelo Valentini², Laura Corsinovi³, Martina Pianelli³, Davide Castagno³, Federico Cesarani⁴, Marco Scaglione⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, Città della Salute e della Scienza, University of Turin, Corso A.M. Dogliotti 14, 10126 Turin, Italy. Electronic address: fiorenzo.gaita@unito.it.
² Division of Neuroradiology, Città della Salute e della Scienza, Via Zuretti, 29, 10126 Turin, Italy.
³ Division of Cardiology, Department of Medical Sciences, Città della Salute e della Scienza, University of Turin, Corso A.M. Dogliotti 14, 10126 Turin, Italy.
⁴ Division of Radiology, Cardinal Guglielmo Massaia Hospital, Corso Dante 202, 14100 Asti, Italy.
⁵ Division of Cardiology, Cardinal Guglielmo Massaia Hospital, Corso Dante 202, 14100 Asti, Italy.

PMID: 27063825
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccep.2013.11.002

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias and relates to high morbidity and mortality due to thromboembolic events, especially ischemic stroke. During the last 15 years, transcatheter ablation has emerged as an effective therapeutic option to treat AF but carries a risk of possible complications. The occurrence of cerebrovascular accidents, both symptomatic and silent, is one of the most frequent and severe. Transcatheter AF ablation entails a relevant risk of silent cerebral ischemia detected by means of magnetic resonance imaging, and many efforts have been directed to improve the safety of this procedure.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Atrial fibrillation transcatheter ablation; Cardioembolic risk; Cognitive decline; Magnetic resonance imaging; Silent cerebral ischemia.

Publication types

Review