Methods
Sixty-two participants who had undergone RF catheter ablation (RFA) for
paroxysmal AF (PAF) using HPSD-PVI strategy from October 2018 to June
2019 were evaluated. They were subjected to circumferential PVI without
any substrate modifications. 3-D cardiac computed tomography (CT) with
or without contrast agent and transthoracic echocardiography were
performed before the procedure. Transesophageal echocardiography was
performed for patients with a high CHADS2 score (≥2 points) to rule out
thrombus in the left atrium. All antiarrhythmic drugs were stopped for
at least five half-lives before the procedure. The study was approved by
our institutional review board (Tokyo Women’s Medical University) and
was performed according to the institutional guidelines. All patients
provided written informed consent.