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Radial Ablation for the Control of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Radial Ablation for the Control of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation (Ablación Radial Para conTrol de la fibrilación Auricular persISTtente)

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04662489
Acronym
ARTIST
Enrollment
244
Registered
2020-12-10
Start date
2022-03-01
Completion date
2026-02-28
Last updated
2025-03-12

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Keywords

Atrial fibrillation, Catheter ablation, Radial ablation, Rotors

Brief summary

The protocol aims to evaluate the efficacy of the radial ablation technique of the maintenance mechanisms in persistent atrial fibrillation compared to the isolation of the pulmonary veins evaluating the atrial fibrillation burden during one year follow-up.

Detailed description

Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia in clinical practice, and its treatment still remains suboptimal. Electrical isolation of the pulmonary veins with radiofrequency ablation or cryoablation is the standard therapy when antiarrhythmic drugs or electrical cardioversion is not successful. However, recurrence after catheter ablation worsens in persistent and permanent atrial fibrillation patients. Recently, rotational activity electrogram patterns of self-sustained electrical activity found in the atria have been proposed as the responsible mechanism for the maintenance of atrial fibrillation. The investigators devised a controlled, multicentric, prospective, not blinded, and randomized clinical trial with the aim of comparing pulmonary vein catheter ablation versus radial ablation of sites exhibiting rotational activity in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation. Radial ablation consists of the ablation of the rotational activity sites and an additional ablation line connecting the rotation site with the circumferential ablation line of the pulmonary veins. Besides, subanalysis ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF will be performed. ARTIST-Gender will compare the same outcomes and analysis of the patient cohort but according to the gender of the patient, and ARTIST-HF will sub-divide the analysis with respect to heart failure present in the enrolled patients' cohort.

Interventions

Electrical isolation of the pulmonary veins from the left atrium with cryoablation therapy

PROCEDURERadial ablation

Electrical isolation of the pulmonary veins from the left atrium plus radial ablation of rotational activity sites with radiofrequency ablation.

Sponsors

Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon
CollaboratorOTHER
Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre
CollaboratorOTHER
Puerta de Hierro University Hospital
CollaboratorOTHER
Fundacion para la Innovacion en Biomedicina (FIBMED)
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Control and treatment arms. Control group refers to pulmonary vein isolation ablation. Treatment group refers to pulmonary vein isolation plus radial ablation of rotational activity sites.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age ≥ 18 years and ≤ 75 years. * Non-valvular symptomatic persistent atrial fibrillation. * Patient willingness to participate in the study providing signed written informed consent. * Failure or drug intolerance or refusal to continue with chronic antiarrhythmic treatment. * Left ventricular ejection fraction LVEF) ≥ 25 % in the last echocardiogram prior to enrollment.

Exclusion criteria

* Left atrial diameter \> 5.5 cm in the last echocardiogram. * Contraindication of chronic anticoagulation or heparin. * Previous atrial fibrillation ablation procedure. * Acute coronary syndrome, cardiac surgery or acute cerebrovascular accident in two months prior to enrollement. * Previous diagnosis for hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. * Mental or physical illness that disables the patient to participate in the study. * Scheduled cardiac percutaneous or surgical intervention. * Non-controlled hypertension \> 160/100. * Terminal renal insufficiency or dialysis. * Functional class IV of the New York Heart Association (NYHA). * Moderate valvular disease or previous mitral prosthesis. * Previous hypertrophic heart disease. * Life expectancy less than 12 months. * Inclusion on the transplant list. * Participation in another study so as not to interfere with the results. * Previous atrioventricular block. * Pericardial effusion. * Pregnancy or childbearing age without contraceptive treatment.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Atrial fibrillation burden (1 year)Patients will be followed up during one year, regardless of reaching or not the primary endpoint.Atrial fibrillation burden. Holter monitoring at 4, 8 and 12 months. Time to first atrial fibrillation episode. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Atrial flutter burden (1 year)Patients will be followed up during one year, regardless of reaching or not the primary endpoint.Atrial flutter burden. Holter monitoring at 4, 8 and 12 months. Time to first atrial flutter episode. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Atrial tachycardia burden (1 year)Patients will be followed up during one year, regardless of reaching or not the primary endpoint.Atrial tachycardia burden. Holter monitoring at 4, 8 and 12 months. Time to first atrial tachycardia episode. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Accute procedural success rate2 yearsAccute procedural success as the percentage of episodes that revert to sinus flutter or sinus rhythm during the ablation procedure. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Functional class worsening unforeseen hospitalization1 yearUnforeseen hospitalization due to functional class worsening due to heart failure requiring overnight hospital stay during the 12 month follow-up. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Occurrence of hospitalization for cardiovascular cause1 yearUnforeseen hospitalization for cardiovascular cause requiring overnight hospital stay during the 12 month follow-up. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Total and cardiac mortality2 yearsTotal and cardiac mortality Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Cerebrovascular accident unforeseen hospitalization1 yearUnforeseen hospitalization due to cerebrovascular accident (CVA) requiring overnight hospital stay during the 12 month follow-up. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Heart failure unforeseen hospitalization1 yearUnforeseen hospitalization due to new diagnosis for heart failure requiring overnight hospital stay during the 12 month follow-up. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Quality of life measured with the The Short Form (36) Health Survey1 yearQuality of life is measured with the The Short Form (36) Health Survey at pre-specified study follow-up visits (4, 8, 12 months). The short-form (36) health survey consists of eight scaled scores, which are the weighted sums of the questions in their section. Each scale is directly transformed into a 0-100 scale on the assumption that each question carries equal weight. The lower the score the more disability. The higher the score the less disability i.e., a score of zero is equivalent to maximum disability and a score of 100 is equivalent to no disability. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Final functional class at the end of the study2 yearsFinal functional class at the end of the study. New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Occurrence of severe complication of the ablation procedure2 yearsOccurrence of severe complications of the ablation procedure Will be identified through review of patient clinical reports. One week post-procedural complications included. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.
Overall clinical procedure, radiofrequency and fluoroscopy durations2 yearsTotal time registered during the clinical procedure. Extended analyses by gender and heart failure presence in subanalyses ARTIST-Gender and ARTIST-HF.

Countries

Spain

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026