Literature Search
The preliminary literature search yielded 13,022, of which 12,747 were screened for title and abstract. Consequently 7,159 were assessed for eligibility and full text screening, which led to the inclusion of 3 studies with a total of 600 participants (13, 14, 15). The PRISMA flow chart is shown in Figure 1 . The search strategy and the quality assessment of included studies is summarized in theSupplementary Tables .
Study CharacteristicsThese trials randomly assigned 273 patients to the PVI group and 327 to the PVI+PWI group. The follow-up period ranged from 1 to 18 months. The baseline demographics, characteristics, and comorbidities are summarized in Table 1 . The average age was 68 years in the PVI group, as compared to 66 years in the PVI+PWI group while 186/273 patients were male in the PVI group and 220/327 patients were male in the PVI+PWI group. Out of total study population 466 patients had persistent AF (continuous AF for > 7 days) and 134 patients had long-standing persistent AF (continuous AF for > 12 months). Out of 3 studies that we included in our meta-analysis, two were randomized controlled trials (13, 14). One study was a prospective non-randomized trial. (15) CBA was performed in both the PVI and PVI+PWI groups with adjunct radiofrequency ablation (RFA) performed in 2 of the studies (14, 15).