Introduction: Catheter pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is a complex procedure with significant risk of complications, generally ranging from 5 to 6 % in RF ablation procedures. The objective of this single-centre study was to estimate the complication rate and corresponding risk factors of PVI procedures using the cryoballoon technique.
Methods: In total, 158 consecutive patients (aged 57±9 years, 71,5% males, 73,3% paroxysmal AF) were enrolled. Out of 632 pulmonary veins, 611 (96,7%) were successfully isolated by 2-4 applications of cryothermal energy. All periprocedural and early postprocedural complications were systematically recorded.
Results: We found 8 major complications (5,06%). Phrenic nerve palsy was recorded in 1 patient (0,63%), 2 patients (1,27%) experienced cardiac tamponade, 3 patients (1,9%) had transient embolic events. Furthermore, in 2 patients (1,27%) groin complications were noticed. No case of death was observed as well as permanent injury. The presence of AF periprocedurally was the only detected significant risk factor.
Conclusions: Regarding presented complication rate, the cryoballoon PVI is non-inferior to conventional RF ablation procedures and has good attributes as first-line therapy for the treatment of paroxysmal AF.