Pulsed-Field Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation
This community focuses on the clinical application and safety of pulsed-field ablation, a non-thermal technique used to treat atrial fibrillation by disrupting electrical signaling in heart tissue.
The research is dominated by comparative studies evaluating pulsed-field ablation against established methods such as radiofrequency and cryoballoon ablation. Recurring themes include the isolation of pulmonary veins, the management of both paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation, and the assessment of procedural safety. A significant portion of the literature addresses specific adverse events, particularly hemolysis and its potential link to acute kidney injury, as well as the interaction between ablation energy and cardiac implantable electronic devices. The work also encompasses the development of novel catheter designs, including variable-loop and focal pulsed-field systems, and the establishment of clinical consensus guidelines for patient selection and procedural protocols.
The community's output is distributed across a wide range of elements, with the largest share of research found in chlorine, accounting for 42 papers, followed by gadolinium with 31 papers and gold with 28 papers.
This group comprises 1,607 papers, published primarily in Heart Rhythm, EP Europace, and the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology.
Recent work continues to focus on large-scale safety registries and head-to-head trials comparing pulsed-field ablation with radiofrequency and thermal ablation. Newer studies also explore the application of high-voltage focal pulsed-field ablation for scar-related ventricular tachycardia and examine the long-term outcomes of these interventions in persistent atrial fibrillation.