SynthesisJournal of cardiovascular electrophysiology2021
Comparison of procedural efficacy, balloon nadir temperature, and incidence of phrenic nerve palsy between two cryoballoon technologies for pulmonary vein isolation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of cardiovascular electrophysiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy and safety of POLARx versus Arctic front advance pro cryoballoon systems for pulmonary vein isolation in atrial fibrillation: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Comparison of procedural efficacy, balloon nadir temperature, and incidence of phrenic nerve palsy between two cryoballoon technologies for pulmonary vein isolation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of cardiovascular electrophysiology · 2021Pooled it
- Predictors of arrhythmia recurrence after cryoballoon ablation in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: a comparative analysis from the CONTRAST-CRYO trial.Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing · 2026Article
- Radiofrequency, Cryoablation, and Pulsed Field Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: Mechanisms, Preclinical Evidence, and Clinical Outcomes.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- 2024 European Heart Rhythm Association/Heart Rhythm Society/Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society/Latin American Heart Rhythm Society expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation.Journal of arrhythmia · 2024Article
- 2024 European Heart Rhythm Association/Heart Rhythm Society/Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society/Latin American Heart Rhythm Society expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation.Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing · 2024Article
- 2024 European Heart Rhythm Association/Heart Rhythm Society/Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society/Latin American Heart Rhythm Society expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2024Article
- Initial clinical experience with the novel POLARx FIT cryoballoon system for pulmonary vein isolation in patients with atrial fibrillation.International journal of cardiology. Heart & vasculature · 2024Article
- Difference in tissue temperature change between two cryoballoons.Open heart · 2023Article
- Evaluation of the direction and extent of ice formation during cryoballoon ablation: an experimental study.Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing · 2023Article
- Novel cryoballoon to isolate pulmonary veins in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: long-term outcomes in a multicentre clinical study.Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing · 2022Article
- Comparison of the acute outcome of two cryoballoon technologies for pulmonary vein isolation: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of cardiology. Heart & vasculature · 2022Review
- Two competing cryoballoon technologies for single shot pulmonary vein isolation: first experiences with the novel system.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2022Review
- News from the Cold Chamber: Clinical Experiences of POLARx versus Arctic Front Advance for Single-Shot Pulmonary Vein Isolation.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2022Article
- Optimization of the transseptal procedural workflow using a novel integrated dilator and needle during a cryoballoon procedure.HeartRhythm case reports · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIn May 2020, a novel cryoballoon system (POLARx; Boston Scientific) became available for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF). The design of the cryoballoon is comparable to the Arctic Front Advance Pro (AFA-Pro; Medtronic), but it is more compliant during freezing. We compared the procedural efficacy, biophysical parameters, and risk of phrenic nerve palsy (PNP) between the two cryoballoons.
methodsEmbase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Google Scholar databases were searched until June 1, 2021 for relevant studies comparing POLARx versus AFA-Pro in patients undergoing pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for AF.
resultsA total of four studies, involving 310 patients were included. There was no difference between the two groups for outcomes regarding procedural efficacy: acute PVI (odds ratio [OR]: 0.43; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06 to 3.03; p = .40), procedure time (mean difference [MD]: 8.15 min; 95% CI: -8.09 to 24.39; p = .33), fluoroscopy time (MD: 1.32 min; 95% CI: -1.61 to 4.25; p = .38) and ablation time (MD: 1.00 min; 95% CI: -0.20 to 2.20; p = .10). The balloon nadir temperature was lower for all individual pulmonary veins (PV) in POLARx compared with AFA-Pro (MD: -9.74°C, -9.98°C, -6.72°C, -7.76°C, for left superior PV, left inferior PV, right superior PV, and right inferior PV, respectively; all p < .001). The incidence of PNP was similar between groups (OR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.22 to 2.85; p = .72).
conclusionIn AF patients undergoing PVI, POLARx and AFA-Pro had a similar procedural efficacy. Balloon nadir temperatures were lower with POLARx, however, the incidence of PNP was similar.
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