Efficacy of Combined Heart Valve Replacement and Bipolar Radiofrequency Ablation in Patients with Heart Valve Disease Combined with Atrial Fibrillation
LIU Fanzhao
XUE Shiyue
JI Pan
TONG Guolin
LI Ming
Abstract：Objective To assess the therapeutic effectiveness of heart valve replacement(VR)coupled with bipolar radiofrequency ablation(bRFA)in managing heart valve disease(HVD)concomitant with atrial fibrillation(AF),and to evaluate its influence on cardiac structural and functional outcomes.Methods Sixty individuals diagnosed with HVD and AF,hospitalized from January 2017 to August 2024,were selected and divided into the VR group(receiving VR surgical treatment alone)and the combined group(receiving VR combined with bRFA surgical treatment)according to the surgical method.A comparison was made between the two groups regarding surgical outcomes and restoration of sinus rhythm.Additionally,cardiac structure,cardiac function indicators,and complication rates were contrasted preoperatively,at 1 week post-surgery,and at 3 and 6 months following the procedure.Results The combination group had a significantly longer extracorporeal circulation time than the VR group(P＜0.05).However,there were no notable differences between the two groups in ventilator assistance time,blood loss during surgery,or hospital stay after the operation(P＞0.05).Before the surgery,cardiac structure and function measures did not differ significantly between the groups(P＞0.05).At 6 months post-operation,both groups exhibited a significant reduction in left atrial size,along with marked improvements in left ventricular fractional shortening(LVFS)and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)(P＜0.05).The rate of sinus rhythm reversal tended to decrease in both groups after surgery,but the reversal was always better in the combined group than in the VR group at 1 week,3 months and 6 months after surgery,and the combined group exhibited a consistently greater reduction in left atrial dimension and higher rates of LVFS and LVEF than the VR group(P＜0.05).Following the surgery,complications were observed in three patients from the VR group,resulting in a total complication rate of 10.71％.In the combined group,five patients experienced complications,leading to a total rate of 15.63％.The disparity in complication rates between the two groups was not statistically meaningful(P＞0.05).Conclusion VR combined with bRFAprocedure provides a safe and effective comprehensive treatment option for patients with HVD combined with AF,which improves cardiac structure and function in patients,with a favorable safety profile.
Keywords：heart valve diseaseatrial fibrillationbipolar radiofrequency ablationcardiac structurecardiac function
Publication Date：2026-05-13
Online Publishing Date：2026-09-12(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 1596-1600 )