Arrhythmias & electrophysiology
Sustained Improvement in Quality of Life Following Catheter Ablation for Persistent Atrial Fibrillation (AF) Beyond 3 Years: That's No Sham
Authors' conclusion
CA for PsAF resulted in a significant incremental improvement in QOL over long-term follow-up. The sustained nature of QOL improvement over 3 years following ablation argues against a placebo effect.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with persistent AF (PsAF) undergoing catheter ablation in the CAPLA trialpatients randomized in CAPLA, 309 (91.4%) had complete quality of life (QOL) data at 3 years post-ablation
- Participants
- 338 patients
- Comparison
- QOL before ablation vs 6 months, 1 year and 3 years post-ablation
Methodological detailslarge, multicenter, international trial, randomized
- Large, multicenter, international trial
- Randomized
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Mean AFEQT score · baseline, 12 months, 3 years
Baseline
53.7 ± 22.6
12 months
78.7 ± 20.1
3 years
88.4 ± 14.8
Further findings
AFEQT subdomains (symptoms, activity limitations, treatment concerns)
- Significant improvements across all AFEQT subdomains
Correlation between AF burden and QOL · 3 years
- Negative correlation (r)
- −0.45
- AF burden >5% associated with no significant improvement in QOL
- P < 0.001
Follow-up completeness · 3 years
- Complete QOL data at 3 years
- 309 (91.4%)
Original publication
Sustained Improvement in Quality of Life Following Catheter Ablation for Persistent AF Beyond 3 Years: That's No Sham. JACC Clin Electrophysiol. Published 3 July 2025. doi:10.
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