Rethinking appropriate blanking period after atrial fibrillation ablation

Early recurrence (ER) within a 90-day blanking period (BP) in catheter ablation (CA) for atrial fibrillation (AF) is a risk factor for late recurrence (LR) after 90 days postoperatively. However, few reports have examined them in the second CA and compared them to the first CA. Moreover, in recent years, there have been reports suggesting that BP should be reduced from 90 to 30 days. Therefore, the association between ER and LR in the first and the second CA was examined, and the validity of a 30-day BP was evaluated.

A total of 511 consecutive patients undergoing the first CA and 116 of these patients undergoing the second CA for AF at a single institution from November 2016 to December 2020 were analyzed retrospectively.

When ER within a 90-day BP was divided into 0–30 days and 31–90 days according to the timing of the last ER episode, the hazard ratios on LR of them relative to no ER were 2.7 {95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7–4.2} and 9.7 (95% CI 6.6–14.3), respectively, for the first CA and 15.3 (95% CI 4.7–50.1) and 44.1 (95% CI 14.0–139.4), respectively, for the second CA.

ER was strongly associated with LR, especially in patients with the last episode of ER more than 30 days after CA. This was pronounced in cases after the second CA, when PVI appeared to be completed. With the current improvement in PVI durability, BP may be acceptable for 30 days.