ArticleEuropace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology2023
Detection of brain lesions after catheter ablation depends on imaging criteria: insights from AXAFA-AFNET 5 trial.
Article in 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, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02227550 (An Investigator-driven, Prospective, Parallel-group, Randomised, Open, Blinded Outcome Assessment), which is not on this map. Cited by 6 papers.
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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.
An Investigator-driven, Prospective, Parallel-group, Randomised, Open, Blinded Outcome Assessment (PROBE), Multi-centre Trial to Determine the Optimal Anticoagulation Therapy for Patients Untergoing Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Incidence of silent cerebral lesions during pulsed field ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.Annals of medicine · 2026Trial
- First-in-human clinical series of a novel conformable large-lattice pulsed field ablation catheter for pulmonary vein isolation.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 · 2024Trial
- [Risk of stroke during left atrial catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation].Herzschrittmachertherapie & Elektrophysiologie · 2026Review
- Intraprocedural activated clotting time and heparin dosage in pulsed field ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Article
- Microembolizations in the arterial cerebral circulation during atrial fibrillation ablation: cryoballoon technique advantages and neurocognitive safety-results of a prospective observational study.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 · 2024Observational
- Disturbed atrial metabolism, shear stress, and cardiac load contribute to atrial fibrillation after ablation: AXAFA biomolecule study.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
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 17 institutions in 9 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsLeft atrial catheter ablation is well established in patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF) but associated with risk of embolism to the brain. The present analysis aims to assess the impact of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) slice thickness on the rate of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-detected ischaemic brain lesions after ablation. METHODS AND
resultsAXAFA-AFNET 5 trial (NCT02227550) participants underwent MRI using high-resolution (hr) DWI (slice thickness: 2.5-3 mm) and standard DWI (slice thickness: 5-6 mm) within 3-48 h after ablation. In 321 patients with analysable brain MRI (mean age 64 years, 33% female, median CHA2DS2-VASc 2), hrDWI detected at least one acute brain lesion in 84 (26.2%) patients and standard DWI in 60 (18.7%; P < 0.01) patients. High-resolution diffusion-weighted imaging detected more lesions compared to standard DWI (165 vs. 104; P < 0.01). The degree of agreement for lesion confirmation using hrDWI vs. standard DWI was substantial (κ = 0769). Comparing the proportion of DWI-detected lesions, lesion distribution, and total lesion volume per patient, there was no difference in the cohort of participants undergoing MRI at 1.5 T (n = 52) vs. 3 T (n = 269).
conclusionThe pre-specified AXAFA-AFNET 5 sub-analysis revealed significantly increased rates of MRI-detected acute brain lesions using hrDWI instead of standard DWI in AF patients undergoing ablation. In comparison to DWI slice thickness, MRI field strength had a no significant impact in the trial. Comparing the varying rates of ablation-related MRI-detected brain lesions across previous studies has to consider these technical parameters. Future studies should use hrDWI, as feasibility was demonstrated in the multicentre AXAFA-AFNET 5 trial.
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