CONSCIOUS PFA
Research type
Research Study
Full title
“A comparison of pulsed field ablation (PFA) vs cryoablation for atrial fibrillation under deep sedation” - The CONSCIOUS PFA study
IRAS ID
355943
Contact name
Rahul Mukherjee
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 30 days
Research summary
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common heart rhythm disturbance that affects 2% of the population. Medications have limited effectiveness in treating this rhythm and are associated with side-effects. Catheter ablation is used routinely to treat AF and help improve symptoms and the quality of life for patients.
There are three different energy sources that are routinely used in catheter ablation of AF including radiofrequency energy (heating tissue), cryoablation (freezing tissue) and pulsed field ablation (delivery of ultra-short electric pulses). Pulsed field ablation is an innovative technique that has been around for 5-6 years and has proven to be more accurate in targeting heart tissue as well as being safer than other energy sources. In order to deliver pulsed field ablation, general anaesthesia whereby the patient is asleep and intubated (breathing tube in place) has been widely used. However, there is increasing evidence that it may be possible to deliver pulsed field ablation for AF without general anaesthesia and instead using deep sedation.
The purpose of this study is to see if pulsed field ablation can be delivered in patients using deep sedation and compared to cryoablation in order to understand patients' tolerance for this procedure.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 3
REC reference
25/WS/0164
Date of REC Opinion
19 Dec 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion