Study Cohort
We conducted a single-center, retrospective cohort study comprising
patients derived from an IRB-approved, prospectively populated clinical
database of AF ablation patients. All patients underwent either first or
repeat AF ablation between February 2019 to March 2021 at the Johns
Hopkins Hospital. All patients underwent a preprocedural cardiac CT scan
or cardiac magnet resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the left atrium (LA)
and pulmonary vein (PV) anatomy in detail. The total patient cohort was
divided into pre-COVID and post-COVID cohorts based on the Spring 2020
peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (when ablation procedures were temporarily
halted in our hospital) and pre-procedural imaging for LAA thrombus
evaluation. The pre-COVID cohort consisted of ablations performed
between February 2019 to January 2020, and the post-COVID cohort
included ablations performed between April 2020 to March 2021. All
patients signed written informed consent at the time of the procedure.
Demographics, clinical history, imaging data, procedural data, and
complications were recorded for each procedure.