Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Cardiol. May 26, 2026; 18(5): 118482
Published online May 26, 2026. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v18.i5.118482
Published online May 26, 2026. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v18.i5.118482
Superior vena cava isolation is associated with improved outcomes in atrial fibrillation ablation
Michail Botis, Dimitrios Tsiachris, Ioannis Doundoulakis, Athanasios Kordalis, Sotirios Chiotis, Panagiotis Tsioufis, Konstantinos Tsioufis, First Department of Cardiology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, “Hippokration” General Hospital, Athens 11527, Greece
Christos Konstantinos Antoniou, Athens Heart Center, Athens Medical Center, Athens 15125, Greece
Gian Battista Chierchia, Carlo de Asmundis, Heart Rhythm Management Centre, UZ Brussel-Vrije Univ Brussel, Brussels 1090, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium
Co-first authors: Michail Botis and Dimitrios Tsiachris.
Author contributions: Tsiachris D and Botis M contributed equally to this manuscript and are co-first authors. Tsiachris D, Doundoulakis I, and Botis M contributed to conceptualization; Botis M and Tsiachris D contributed to methodology; Kordalis A and Antoniou CK contributed to formal analysis; Chiotis S contributed to investigation; Tsiachris D contributed to resources, writing - review and editing; Doundoulakis I contributed to data curation and visualization; Botis M contributed to writing - original draft preparation; Chierchia GB and de Asmundis C contributed to supervision; Tsioufis K and Tsiachris D contributed to project administration. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Corresponding author: Dimitrios Tsiachris, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, First Department of Cardiology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, “Hippokration” General Hospital, Vas Sofias 114, Athens 11527, Greece. dtsiachris@yahoo.com
Received: January 4, 2026
Revised: February 11, 2026
Accepted: April 3, 2026
Published online: May 26, 2026
Processing time: 136 Days and 9.2 Hours
Revised: February 11, 2026
Accepted: April 3, 2026
Published online: May 26, 2026
Processing time: 136 Days and 9.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: In patients with superior vena cava (SVC) potentials, additional SVC isolation is accompanied by reduced rates of tachycardia recurrence during atrial fibrillation ablation. In a tailored care approach, radiofrequency energy has proven better results compared to cryoablation-mediated SVC isolation. The strategy of periprocedural induction of SVC-originating atrial fibrillation should not be used as a criterion for deciding SVC isolation. These findings support integrating SVC isolation into individualized ablation strategies to optimize patient outcomes.