5. Discussion
This observational study
in
279 patients who underwent initial AF ablation investigated the
association between LACV and AF recurrence. Three main findings were
obtained: a slow LACV on both anterior and posterior routes was
significantly associated with AF recurrence; an anterior LACV
< 0.87 m/s independently predicted AF recurrence; and patients
with low-voltage areas in the anterior regions
demonstrated
a slower anterior LACV. The finding that a slow LACV in the entire left
atrium is an excellent predictor of AF recurrence after PVI suggests the
necessity of additional ablations. To our knowledge, this is the first
clinical study to investigate the association between LACV and AF
recurrence.