Johannes Brachmann (Coburg, Germany) speaks to Cardiac Rhythm News at HRS 2019 about the REAFFIRM trial, which compared the use of rotor ablation versus conventional ablation when treating patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.
Brachmann outlines the key findings of the study, which found that there was “no significant difference” between FIRM (focal impulse and rotor modulation) guided therapy and conventional therapy. Brachmann notes that there was “a very high success rate in both arms” which “well exceeded” previously recorded results.
Brachmann went on to explain that the best results were achieved with patients undergoing standard PVI (pulmonary vein isolation) plus rotor ablation, but that the data did not prove to be “statistically significant”. “We need to do more studies to further evaluate this very interesting technology”, he said.
