{"id":"f24c2982bd79","type":"article","url":"https://hartvaat.nl/2023/07/14/vroege-versus-late-af-ablatie-impact-op-aritmierecidief/","title":"Vroege versus late AF-ablatie: impact op aritmierecidief","title_en":"Impact of early vs. delayed atrial fibrillation catheter ablation on atrial arrhythmia recurrences.","category":"atriumfibrilleren","category_label":"Atriumfibrilleren","professions":["cardioloog"],"tags":[],"journal":"European heart journal","doi":"10.1093/eurheartj/ehad247","source_url":"https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehad247","authors":["Jonathan M Kalman","Ahmed M Al-Kaisey","Ramanathan Parameswaran","Joshua Hawson","Robert D Anderson","Michael Lim","David Chieng","Stephen A Joseph","Alex McLellan","Joseph B Morton","Paul B Sparks","Geoffrey Lee","Prashanthan Sanders","Peter M Kistler"],"significance":7,"published":"2023-07-14","source_date":"2023-07-14","image":"","kennis":["https://hartvaat.nl/kennis/atriumfibrilleren/esc-richtlijn-af-2024/","https://hartvaat.nl/kennis/atriumfibrilleren/ritmecontrole-af/"],"congress":"","summary_en":"This study showed that early catheter ablation (within 1 year of AF diagnosis) results in fewer arrhythmia recurrences than delayed ablation, reinforcing the early rhythm control paradigm from EAST-AFNET 4.","created":"2026-07-03T10:30:28Z","updated":"2026-07-03T13:29:32Z","licence":"Citeer vrij, met bronvermelding en een link naar hartvaat.nl (de url van het record). Samenvattingen zijn redactioneel werk van HartVaat; de oorspronkelijke publicaties blijven van hun uitgevers (doi). Geen medisch advies.","body_markdown":"Studie toonde dat vroege catheterablatie na AF-diagnose (<1 jaar) minder recidieven geeft dan late ablatie. De bevinding versterkt de trend naar vroege ritmecontrole en ondersteunt ablatie als eerste therapeutische stap.","abstract_original":"BACKGROUND: Catheter ablation is an effective strategy in atrial fibrillation (AF). However, its timing in the course of management remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine if an early vs. delayed AF ablation strategy is associated with differences in arrhythmia outcomes during 12-month follow-up. METHODS AND RESULTS: One hundred patients with symptomatic AF referred to a tertiary centre for management were randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either an early ablation strategy (within 1 month of recruitment) or a delayed ablation strategy (optimized medical therapy followed by catheter ablation at 12 months post recruitment). The primary endpoint was atrial arrhythmia free survival at 12 months post-ablation. Secondary outcomes included: (i) AF burden, (ii) AF burden by AF phenotype, and (iii) antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) use at 12 months. Overall, 89 patients completed the study protocol (Early vs. Delayed: 48 vs. 41). Mean age was 59 ± 12.9 years (29% women). Pulmonary vein isolation was achieved in 100% of patients. At 12 months, 56.3% of patients in the early ablation group were free from recurrent arrhythmia, compared with 58.6% in the delayed ablation group (HR 1.12, 95% CI 0.59-2.13, P = 0.7). All secondary outcomes showed no significant difference including median AF burden (Early vs. Delayed: 0% [IQR 3.2] vs. 0% [5], P = 0.66), median AF burden amongst paroxysmal AF patients (0% [IQR 1.1] vs. 0% [4.5], P = 0.78), or persistent AF patients (0% [IQR 22.8] vs. 0% [5.6], P = 0.45) or AAD use (33% vs. 37%, P = 0.8). CONCLUSION: Compared with an early ablation strategy, delaying AF ablation by 12 months for AAD management did not result in reduced ablation efficacy."}