Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common heart rhythm disorder that causes an irregular heart beat and is a cause of heart failure (HF). Treatments include drugs to slow the heart rate, anti-arrhythmic drugs or ablation of the heart to help preserve normal rhythm. A number of trials have suggested that ablation may be superior to drug treatment to reduce hospitalisations or prevent early death. However, these studies have been small and the results not applicable to the general population with AF and heart failure in the UK. This international study will compare catheter ablation and optimal medical therapy versus optimal medical therapy alone to see if catheter ablation reduces unplanned heart failure hospitalisations and death rates and improves quality of life.
Patients aged ≥18 years.
Patient is willing and able to give informed consent for participation.
Able and willing to comply with all study requirements, including ability to participate in study for 12 months.
Willing to allow their General Practitioner (GP) to be notified of participation in the study.
Long standing (>3 year) persistent or permanent AF.
Previous atrioventricular (AV) nodal ablation.
Previous pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) or surgical ablation.
Recent (<90 days) (type 1 spontaneous) myocardial infarction (type 2 myocardial infarctions are not an exclusion criterion), percutaneous coronary intervention, coronary artery bypass grafting, cardiac resynchronisation therapy or stroke.