Ablation of typical atrial flutter as therapeutic component in carcinoid heart disease: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Carcinoid heart disease is the cardiac manifestation of carcinoid syndrome. There is limited research on rhythm management in patients with carcinoid heart disease. The association of typical atrial flutter and carcinoid heart disease in particular is poorly described. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we present a case of a 77-year-old German woman with carcinoid heart disease and recurrent typical atrial flutter complicating the postoperative course after tricuspid valve replacement and its successful long-term rhythm control by ablation therapy. CONCLUSION: There is limited evidence on rhythm management in patients with the rare diagnosis of carcinoid heart disease. Typical atrial flutter repeatedly complicated the postoperative course of our patient with carcinoid heart disease and could finally be treated curatively by ablation. Radiofrequency ablation should be considered as a valuable therapeutic component in the challenging therapy of this disease.

Ablation Therapy as Management of Typical Atrial Flutter in the Early Period After Cardiac Surgery.

INTRODUCTION: Available data on management of atrial flutter in the early postoperative setting after cardiac surgery are scarce. We aimed to investigate the safety and efficacy (profile) of flutter ablation in the early postoperative phase (30 days after cardiac surgery) in a cohort of 47 consecutive patients. METHODS: Between 2007 and 2016, 47 patients who underwent ablation for postoperative typical atrial flutter were retrospectively identified and analyzed. Follow-up data were acquired from patients' records in case of rehospitalization and via follow-up calls. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 69 years, 89% male and with a median LV-EF of 55%. CAD was present in 80.8% of patients. The predominant conduction of atrial flutter was 2:1 (76.6%); 85.1% of patients had either undergone CABG, SAVR, or a combination of these two. Acute procedural success could be achieved in 100% of patients with one vascular pseudoaneurysm that was managed conservatively. No other complications occurred. After a median follow-up of 5.7 years, follow-up information regarding heart rhythm was available in 87.2% of patients. One patient (2.1%) had undergone repeat ablation for typical flutter. Two patients (4.2%) had developed atrial fibrillation, while 87.2% of patients were in sinus rhythm. CONCLUSIONS: In this small cohort, early postoperative ablation of typical flutter was associated with a favorable short- and long-term safety and efficacy profile and can be considered part of heart rhythm management options in this setting.

Typical atrial flutter but not fibrillation predicts coronary artery disease in formerly healthy patients.

AIMS: Long-term mortality after ablation of typical atrial flutter has been found to be increased two-fold in comparison to atrial fibrillation ablations through a period of 5 years with unclear mechanism. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed 189 consecutive patients who underwent ablation for typical atrial flutter (AFL), in which the incidence of AF was the first manifestation of cardiac disease. According to the clinical standards of our centre, the routine recommendation was to evaluate for coronary artery disease (CAD) by invasive angiogram or computed tomography scan. We compared the AFL patients to 141 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AFIB) without known structural heart disease who underwent ablation in the same period and who had routine coronary angiograms performed. Out of 189 patients who presented with AFL, coronary status was available in 152 patients (80.4%). Both groups were balanced for mean age (64.9 years in AFL vs. 63.2 years in AFIB; P = 0.15), body mass index (BMI; 28.8 vs. 28.5 kg/m2; P = 0.15), CHA2DS2-VASc-Score (2.20 vs. 2.04; P = 0.35), smoking status (22.2% smokers vs. 28.4%; P = 0.23), and renal function (GFR >60 mL/min in 96.7% of all patients vs. 95.7%; P = 0.76). There were significantly lower values for left ventricular ejection fraction (52.5% vs. 59.7%; P < 0.001), female sex (17.0% vs. 47.5%; P < 0.001), hyperlipidaemia (37.9% vs. 58.9%; P < 0.001), and family history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (15.0 vs. 31.9%; P = 0.001) in the AFL vs. AFIB cohorts. Coronary artery disease with stenoses >50% was found in 26.3% of all patients with available coronary status in AFL and in 7.0% in AFIB (P < 0.001). Coronary artery disease with stenoses >75% in 16.4% in AFL whereas only in 1.4% in AFIB (P < 0.001). Multivessel disease was detected in 10.5% in AFL and 0.7% in AFIB (P < 0.001). After correction for age, left ventricular ejection fraction, BMI, CHA2DS2-VASc-Score and its individual components, smoking status, hyperlipidaemia, and family history of CVD, there was a more than five-fold increase in the likelihood of CAD with stenosis >50% in AFL as compared to AFIB [odds ratio (OR 5.26)]. A multivariate analysis was performed in the AFL group. Patients with clinically relevant stenoses (>75%) were older (70.6 years vs. 63.8 years; P = 0.001), had a higher number of risk factors (3.08 vs. 2.24; P ≤ 0.0016) and a higher CHA2DS2-VASc-Score (3.20 vs. 2.00; P < 0.0001). With logistic regression, significant CAD could be predicted by higher values for CHA2DS2-VASc-Score with an exponential rise to a pretest-probability of 42.1% at a value of 4 points. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that typical atrial flutter constitutes a manifestation of previously asymptomatic CAD. Due to the inclusion criteria, CAD has to be considered silent and chronic in most of the patients. Therefore, the presence of typical atrial flutter in formerly healthy patients should raise suspicion of otherwise silent CAD and initiate further investigations and risk stratification with particular emphasis on the individual CHA2DS2-VASc-Scores.