Pulmonary vein isolation beats AV node ablation for drug-refractory AF in HF patients

Pulmonary vein isolation beats AV node ablation for drug-refractory AF in HF patients

23 October 2008

MedWire News: Pulmonary vein isolation is superior to atrioventricular (AV) node ablation with biventricular pacing for the treatment of drug-refractory atrial fibrillation (AF) in patients with heart failure (HF), conclude researchers. continuing story..

Unfortunately, one requires a surgical procedure whereas the other is mainly a percutaneous procedure. Would it be cost effective? How about the surgical risks involved in patients who may not be hemodynamically stable to start of with? The jury is out there.

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