Study Population
This study included 395 consecutive patients who underwent their first
RFCA procedure for PAF between February 2012 and June 2019 at Nippon
Medical School Chiba-Hokusoh Hospital. This study was approved by the
institutional review board. Patients were excluded from the study if any
of the following were present: (1) severe valvular disease, (2) left
ventricular ejection fraction < 35%, (3) left atrial
dimension > 55 mm, (4) active thyroid disease, (5)
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, (6) hemodialysis, or (7) use of
antiarrhythmic drugs during the blanking period. Ninety-seven patients
underwent conventional non-CF-guided ablation (Non-CF group) and 298
patients underwent CF-guided ablation (CF group: force-time integral
[FTI]-guided, 181 patients; ablation index [AI]-guided, 117
patients).