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Advances in Ablation Therapy for Atrial Fibrillation: Innovations and Clinical Applications

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Cardiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 May 2026 | Viewed by 228

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Cardiology Department, Lanchashire Cardiac Centre, Blackpool FY3 8NR, UK
2. Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Liverpool L14 3PE, UK
Interests: cardiology; cardiac electrophysiology; cardiac devices; heart failure; atherosclerosis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Atrial fibrillation (AF) represents the most frequent sustained cardiac arrhythmia and imposes a significant burden on patients and healthcare systems. Management strategies encompass a broad spectrum of both pharmacological therapies and interventional approaches tailored to patient-specific needs. Recent advances in ablation therapy have revolutionized AF treatment, with catheter ablation emerging as the most efficacious intervention for sustaining a normal sinus rhythm, surpassing other therapeutic modalities in long-term rhythm control.

Over the past two decades, significant progress has been made in ablation technology and strategy development, focusing on enhancing efficacy and safety. The evolution of radiofrequency (RF) ablation has progressed from traditional 4 mm tip catheters to advanced systems incorporating irrigated catheters and contact force sensing technology. The novel very-high-power short-duration (vHPSD) mode (90 W for ≤ 4 seconds) represents a significant advancement, offering theoretical advantages, including greater procedure efficiency and reduced collateral damage.

Among single-shot devices, the cryoballoon (CB) has demonstrated high procedural efficiency and favorable outcomes. Recent evidence has established CB-PVI as a superior first-line therapy compared to antiarrhythmic drugs, not only improving efficacy but also reducing AF progression. While pulmonary vein isolation remains fundamental, emerging non-thermal energy modalities, such as pulsed-field ablation (PFA), have gained significant interest due to their selective action and reduced thermal risks.

This Special Issue aims to highlight the latest advancements in AF ablation therapy, and we encourage submissions of original research, reviews, and meta-analyses focusing on novel interventional techniques and therapeutic strategies for AF management.

Dr. Ioanna Koniari
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • atrial fibrillation
  • ablation
  • PFA
  • PVI
  • non-thermal energy
  • mapping system

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

19 pages, 1269 KB  
Review
Monitoring Atrial Fibrillation Using Wearable Digital Technologies: The Emerging Role of Smartwatches
by Panagiotis Stachteas, Marios G. Bantidos, Nikolaos Papoutsidakis, Athina Nasoufidou, Paschalis Karakasis, Georgios Sidiropoulos, Christos Kofos, Dimitrios Patoulias, Vasileios Ediaroglou, George Stavropoulos, Efstratios Karagiannidis, Barbara Fyntanidou, Dimitrios Tsalikakis, Emmanouil Smyrnakis, George Kassimis, Christodoulos E. Papadopoulos and Nikolaos Fragakis
J. Clin. Med. 2026, 15(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15010014 - 19 Dec 2025
Abstract
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia and a growing global health burden, yet conventional monitoring with Holter devices, event recorders and implantable loop recorders often fails to adequately capture recurrence. Rapid advances in digital health, wearable biosensors and artificial intelligence [...] Read more.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia and a growing global health burden, yet conventional monitoring with Holter devices, event recorders and implantable loop recorders often fails to adequately capture recurrence. Rapid advances in digital health, wearable biosensors and artificial intelligence (AI) have transformed consumer smartwatches and wearables into potential clinical tools capable of continuous, real-world rhythm surveillance. This narrative review synthesizes contemporary evidence on smartwatch-based AF monitoring, spanning core technologies—photoplethysmography, single-lead electrocardiography and AI fusion algorithms—and validation studies across post-ablation follow-up. Compared with traditional modalities, smartwatch-based AF monitoring demonstrates improved detection of AF recurrence, enhanced characterization of AF burden, symptom–rhythm correlation, and greater patient engagement. At the same time, key limitations are critically examined, including motion artifacts, false-positive alerts, short recording windows, adherence dependence, digital literacy and access gaps, as well as unresolved issues around regulation, interoperability and data privacy. By integrating engineering advances with guideline-directed care pathways, smartwatch-based AF monitoring holds promise to complement, rather than immediately replace, established diagnostic tools and to enable more proactive, individualized AF management. Future work must focus on robust clinical validation, equitable implementation and clear regulatory frameworks to safely scale these technologies. Full article
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