Left Atrial Wall Stress and the Long-Term Outcome of Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation: An Artificial Intelligence-Based Prediction of Atrial Wall Stress

Atrial stretch may contribute to the mechanism of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after atrial fibrillation catheter ablation (AFCA). We tested whether the left atrial (LA) wall stress (LAW-stress_[measured]) could be predicted by artificial intelligence (AI) using non-invasive parameters (LAW-stress_[AI]) and whether rhythm outcome after AFCA could be predicted by LAW-stress_[AI] in an independent cohort. Cohort 1 included 2223 patients, and cohort 2 included 658 patients who underwent AFCA. LAW-stress_[measured] was calculated using the Law of Laplace using LA diameter by echocardiography, peak LA pressure measured during procedure, and LA wall thickness measured by customized software (AMBER) using computed tomography. The highest quartile (Q4) LAW-stress_[measured] was predicted and validated by AI using non-invasive clinical parameters, including non-paroxysmal type of AF, age, presence of hypertension, diabetes, vascular disease, and heart failure, left ventricular ejection fraction, and the ratio of the peak mitral flow velocity of the early rapid filling to the early diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus (E/Em). We tested the AF/atrial tachycardia recurrence 3 months after the blanking period after AFCA using the LAW-stress_[measured] and LAW-stress_[AI] in cohort 1 and LAW-stress_[AI] in cohort 2. LAW-stress_[measured] was independently associated with non-paroxysmal AF (p < 0.001), diabetes (p = 0.012), vascular disease (p = 0.002), body mass index (p < 0.001), E/Em (p < 0.001), and mean LA voltage measured by electrogram voltage mapping (p < 0.001). The best-performing AI model had acceptable prediction power for predicting Q4-LAW-stress_[measured] (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.734). During 26.0 (12.0–52.0) months of follow-up, AF recurrence was significantly higher in the Q4-LAW-stress_[measured] group [log-rank p = 0.001, hazard ratio 2.43 (1.21–4.90), p = 0.013] and Q4-LAW-stress_[AI] group (log-rank p = 0.039) in cohort 1. In cohort 2, the Q4-LAW-stress_[AI] group consistently showed worse rhythm outcomes (log-rank p < 0.001). A higher LAW-stress was associated with poorer rhythm outcomes after AFCA. AI was able to predict this complex but useful prognostic parameter using non-invasive parameters with moderate accuracy.