BiMAP-AF Version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Biatrial global high-density electroanatomical mapping of atrial fibrillation – a prospective mechanistic registry study
IRAS ID
245096
Contact name
Tim Betts
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 29 days
Research summary
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common sustained arrhythmia with increasing prevalence and significant morbidity and mortality. Current therapy is based around either control of heart rate or maintaining a normal rhythm. Medications to control heart rhythm are often ineffective and poorly tolerated. Understanding of the role of rapid extra beats originating from the pulmonary veins in initiating AFib led to the development of catheter ablation procedures to electrically isolate the pulmonary veins through radio-frequency ablation. Although this procedure is increasingly performed, success rates can be limited, especially in patients with more persistent AFib, and the electrophysiological mechanisms are incompletely understood. Non-pulmonary vein triggers are poorly characterised and further mechanisms involved in propagating and sustaining the arrhythmia are thought to exist but vary significantly between individuals. Furthermore, focus has traditionally been on the left atrium in maintaining AFib, but the importance of the right atrium is increasingly recognised.
This study aims to use two linked novel electroanatomical mapping systems developed by ACUTUS Medical that will allow simultaneous visualisation of whole chamber activation of both the left and right atria during AFib, normal rhythm and when pacing the heart from different regions and at different rates. This will be combined with standard 3-dimensional mapping systems to identify mechanisms involved with AFib propagation such as focal impulses, rotational activity or re-entry circuits, correlate these regions with voltage and conduction properties during normal rhythm and pacing, and explore how both atria interact to perpetuate the arrhythmia.REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SC/0409
Date of REC Opinion
30 Aug 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion