Arrhythmias & electrophysiology
From Paroxysmal to Persistent Atrial Fibrillation: Progressive Fibrosis of the Left Atrial Posterior Wall
Authors' conclusion
LAPW fibrosis may be an important factor in the progression from PAF to PsAF.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and healthy volunteers undergoing 18F-AlF-FAPI PET-MRI; separate cardiac surgery cohort with biopsy78 AF, 49 healthy volunteers
- Exposure
- FAPI-PET-MRI atrial fibrosis across AF stages vs healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteersn = 49reference
- Outcome
- Level of atrial fibrosis (fibroblast activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) positive ratio) in different stages of AF
Methodological detailssingle-centre
- Single-centre
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Fibrosis positive ratio
- Positive ratio significantly higher in PsAF and PmAF vs PAF and healthy volunteers across all atrial regions
- P < 0.05
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Discrimination of AF stage by positive ratio
- AUC PAF vs PsAF, LA (cutoff 0.072)
- 0.991
- AUC PAF vs PsAF, left atrium posterior wall (LAPW) (cutoff 0.025)
- 0.983
- AUC PsAF vs PmAF, LA (cutoff 0.382)
- 0.756
Histology (36 surgical patients, 124 tissue fragments)
- Increased fibrotic deposition in regions with increased 18F-FAPI uptake
Original publication
From Paroxysmal to Persistent Atrial Fibrillation: Progressive Fibrosis of the Left Atrial Posterior Wall. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. Published 25 June 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →