HRS video: New trial DISCERN(s) AF episodes pre- and post-ablation

HRS Video: Atul Verma, MD DISCERN AF Principal Investigator Southlake Regional Health Centre Newmarket, Ontario

SAN FRANCISCO—Results of the late-breaking clinical DISCERN AF trial presented at a morning session at the annual Heart Rhythm Society scientific sessions outlined the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in symptomatic patients before and after radiofrequency ablation.

During the trial--Discerning the Incidence of Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Episodes of Atrial Fibrillation Pre- and Post-Radiofrequency Ablation—researchers implanted 50 patients from eight Canadian centers with an implantable loop recorder to help detect episodes of AF.

Patients were asked to keep diary entries of symptoms throughout the duration of the trial post-ablation. The researchers found that post-ablation was an independent predictor of AF and that patient reported symptoms only correlated to data on the implantable loop recorder 50 percent of the time.

Atul Verma, MD, cardiologist and electrophysiologist at the Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, Ontario, and principal investigator of the DISCERN AF trial, spoke with Cardiovascular Business to discuss the trial’s results.