ABSTRACT
AIM: To study prevalence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) and to evaluate the effect of pulmonary vein catheter isolation on left ventricular (LV) diastolic function in patients with paroxysmal and persistent forms of atrial fibrillation (AF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 109 patients with paroxysmal (n=90; 82.6 %) and persistent (n=19; 17.4 %) AF were evaluated after 109 pulmonary vein catheter isolations. The patients were divided into two groups based on the operation efficacy. Heart ultrasound including evaluation of the LV diastolic function was performed for all patients on the day of operation and at 6 and 12 months. RESULTS: After the surgery, 61 (56.5 %) patients maintained sinus rhythm (SR) for 12 months and comprised Group 1. Group 2 consisted of patients with a relapse of AF (47 patients; 43.5 %). At baseline, LVDD with SR was observed in 53 patients (48.6 %), at 6 months - in 34 (31.2 %) patients (p=0.001), and at 12 months - in 27 patients (24.8 %) (p.