ArticleAmerican journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology2019
Sympathetic responses induced by radiofrequency catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation.
Article in American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic value of heart rate variability in atrial fibrillation recurrence following catheter ablation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Intraprocedural Left Atrial Pressure Elevation and Risk of Heart Failure Events After Atrial Fibrillation Ablation.Circulation reports · 2026Article
- A multi-parameter predictive model incorporating VEGF for asymptomatic cerebral infarction after RFCA in atrial fibrillation.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Article
- Changes in heart rate variability parameters following pulsed-field ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis HRV changes after pulsed-field ablation in AF.International journal of cardiology. Heart & vasculature · 2025Review
- Skin sympathetic nerve activity in symptomatic and asymptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.Heart rhythm · 2024Article
- Brain and cardiovascular-related changes are associated with aging, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2022Review
- Alteration of Skin Sympathetic Nerve Activity after Pulmonary Vein Isolation in Patients with Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Article
- The interplay between autonomic tone and atrial arrhythmias.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2022Article
- Monophasic action potential amplitude for substrate mapping.American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) is a frequently performed procedure in patients with atrial fibrillation. Prior studies have shown that the RFCA may directly stimulate vagal afferents during the procedure, whereas the vagal tone assessed by heart rate variability (HRV) is lowered weeks after the RFCA procedure. The effects of RFCA performed in the left atrium on sympathetic nerve activity have not been assessed. In the present study, we hypothesized that RFCA would lower muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) during ablation and would raise MSNA 1 day postablation. A total of 18 patients were studied. In protocol 1 ( n = 10), electrocardiogram, blood pressure, and MSNA in the peroneal nerve were recorded through the RFCA procedure performed in the electrophysiology laboratory. In protocol 2, eight patients were studied before the procedure and 1 day postablation. RFCA led to a decrease in MSNA immediately after the procedure (25.4 ± 3.2 to 17.2 ± 3.8 bursts/min, P < 0.05). Cardiac parasympathetic activity was determined using indexes of HRV and increased during the procedure. One day postablation, MSNA was above baseline values (21.3 ± 3.7 to 35.7 ± 2.6 bursts/min, P < 0.05). HRV indexes of cardiac parasympathetic activity fell, and the HRV index of sympathovagal balance was not significantly altered. The results show that RFCA raised cardiac parasympathetic activity and decreased MSNA during the procedure. One day postablation, MSNA rose and cardiac parasympathetic activity fell. In addition, RFCA evokes differentiated sympathetic responses directed to the heart and skeletal muscles. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The effects of radiofrequency catheter ablation performed in the left atrium on muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) have not been assessed. The results of this study show that radiofrequency catheter ablation raised cardiac parasympathetic activity and decreased MSNA during the procedure. One day postablation, MSNA rose and cardiac parasympathetic activity fell. We speculate that the partial autonomic afferent denervation induces these effects on autonomic activity.
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