Finite Element Simulations of Left Atrial Filling Following Radiofrequency Ablation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a cardiac rhythm disorder characterized by rapid, erratic muscle contraction without concordant chamber motion. Given the rising prevalence of AF and failures of pharmaceutical therapies, clinicians have increasingly used radiofrequency (RF) ablation to electrically isolate the abnormal tissue [1]. A typical ablation procedure (PVI) electrically isolates the pulmonary veins (PV) by encircling them with lesions and has a 60% success rate [2]. More aggressive procedures have been proposed to increase the success rate, including wide-area circumferential ablation (WACA), which add more lesions without considering the functional impact of additional scarring [3]. The objective of this study was to develop a finite element model of a healthy left atrium, capable of simulating passive filling during ventricular systole, and explore the functional impact of ablation by simulating various scar patterns.