Patient characteristics at baseline
Of the 130 patients with persistent AF and severe LA enlargement who received CA and bepridil, 18 were unable to maintain sinus rhythm for more than 1 month during bepridil administration, and 17 did not agree to discontinue treatment. The remaining 95 patients were divided into the short-term continuation group (bepridil discontinued for <6 months [median 3.0 months] after CA [n=63]) and long-term continuation group (bepridil discontinued for >6 months [median 11.4 months] after CA [n=32]). Of the long-term continuation group, 5 patients discontinued bepridil due to QT prolongation, and the remaining 27 patients discontinued bepridil when the attending physician recommended discontinuation and the patient agreed. PV isolation was successfully performed in all 95 patients.Nine patients (4 in the short-term continuation group and 5 in the long-term continuation group) underwent cardioversion for AF during the blanking period.
The comparison of baseline characteristics between the short- and long-term continuation groups is summarized in Table 1. Patients in the long-term continuation group were older than those in the short-term continuation group (mean age, 63±9 vs. 67±8 years; P=0.043). There were no marked differences in the other clinical characteristics.