Background Recent evidence suggests that atrial fibrillation (AF) adversely affects endothelial function. The goal of this study was to assess endothelial function in patients with AF before and after restoration of sinus rhythm by catheter ablation (ABL). Methods Reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT) measurements reflecting endothelial function were conducted with Endo-PAT2000 (Itamar Medical, Caesarea, Israel) in 27 patients with persistent AF before ABL and in 21 control subjects with sinus rhythm (SR). According to cardiac rhythm on the morning after ABL, patients were divided into two groups: day 1-restored SR group (n=19) and day 1-recurred AF group (n=8). Based on the cardiac rhythm at 6months after ABL, the restored SR group was further subdivided into the month 6-maintained SR group (n=11) and the month 6-recurred AF group (n=6). Results Log e RH-PAT index (RHI) was significantly lower in the persistent AF group than in the control (SR) group (0.52±0.20; 0.69±0.24, p e RHI e RHI was significantly higher after ABL than before ABL (0.53±0.20; 0.73±0.25; p e RHI of the month 6-maintained SR group was comparable to that of the day 1-restored SR group. Conclusions These results suggest that AF is associated with impairment of endothelial dysfunction and that this impairment is reversed by restoration of sinus rhythm.
