Identification, Electro-mechanical Characterisation and Ablation of Driver Regions in Persistent Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained heart rhythm abnormality. Its incidence is increasing partly due to the aging population and it has been referred to as a growing epidemic. AF results in irregular contractions of the heart causing unpleasant symptoms of palpitations and increasing the risk of stroke, heart failure and death. Percutaneous catheter ablation is a safe treatment option in symptomatic patients with AF. The success rate of these procedures have improved with time due to our better understanding of AF, development of new techniques and technology, and greater physician experience. However, the success rate of these procedures still only remains around 70%. This is secondary to our limited ability to find the areas that drive AF. STAR mapping is a novel mapping system that has been developed with a view of better identifying the sites that drive AF through taking into account the mechanisms of AF we have so far demonstrated. To validate this mapping system we aim to use it in patients with atrial tachycardia (AT), which is a heart rhythm abnormality of which the mechanism can be readily identified with the existing mapping systems used in clinical practice. We will demonstrate that the STAR mapping algorithm can effectively map AT.