The Success Rate of Cryoablation vs. Radiofrequency Ablation for the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a heart rhythm disorder of the atrium caused by impulses that attack the Atrioventricular (AV) node and block signals to the ventricles. There are two types of catheter ablations that attempt to cure AF: radiofrequency (RF) ablation and cryoablation. RF ablations use an irrigated open-tip catheter to burn lesions in a point-by-point fashion around the pulmonary veins to stop the irregular electrical signals. Cryoablations use a balloon catheter that inflates in the pulmonary vein to freeze the tissue, which stops the irregular electrical signals. While both methods are adequate, the more effective procedure is a topic of debate. This study was performed at Baylor Scott and White Hillcrest hospital in the Cardiology Department. The data was obtained from 45 patients who suffered from AF from January 2017- June 2018. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the success rates of RF ablations and cryoablations within the Baylor Scott and White Hillcrest hospitals by measuring the readmission rates of patients who repeated an ablation. The initial success rates of RF ablation and cryoablation were calculated to be 88% and 95%, respectively. Even though this study aligns with other studies performed by Frankel Cardiovascular Center and CarolinaEast Medical Center, it was noted that the sample pool is small and limited to Baylor Scott and White Hillcrest.