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Course: Challenged Atrioventricular Node Ablation in a Patient With Atrial Fibrillation With Rapid Ventricular Rate and Wide QRS Complex

CME Credits: 1.00

Released: 2022-10-31

A patient in their 60s was referred to our hospital (West China Hospital) for atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation, with a history of palpitations for more than 10 years and dyspnea for 3 years. This patient had undergone a single-chamber pacemaker implant 10 years prior for sick sinus syndrome with paroxysmal AF. Two months prior, the patient was admitted to a local hospital for worsening dyspnea because of persistent AF with a poorly controlled ventricular rate even though they were taking metoprolol, 47.5 mg, and digoxin, 0.125 mg, once daily, and diltiazem, 30 mg, 3 times a day. Echocardiography results showed an enlarged left atrium (51 mm) and left ventricle (66 mm) with a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (31%). A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) was obtained on admission (). Physicians interpreted the ECG as AF with a rapid ventricular response and left bundle branch block (LBBB) and made the diagnosis of tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy. The treatment strategy was to ablate the atrioventricular (AV) node and then upgrade the single-chamber pacemaker to cardiac resynchronization therapy. However, AV block was not achieved after more than 3 hours’ ablation around the His bundle area.


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