Material and methods
THROMBOEMBOLIC EVENT, MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION, UNSTABLE ANGINA, SYSTEMIC INFECTION
The trial was approved by the Ethics Committee and all patients signed informed consent. Inclusion criteria were age >70 years, symptomatic paroxysmal AF, and AAT intolerance or failure. Exclusion criteria were persistent or permanent AF, previous AF ablation, unstable angina, life expectancy to <1 year, previous cardiac surgery, myocardial infarction or thromboembolic events, contraindications to oral anticoagulation, and active systemic infection. After enrolment, all patients discontinued AAT and they performed 15-day electrocardiogram (ECG)-Holter monitoring, a complete transthoracic echocardiogram, and a cardiac computed tomography (CT) before STAR. The EuroQol (EQ) visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess quality of life, administrated before treatment and 12 months after it. The EQ VAS records the patient’s self-rated health on a vertical VAS from 0 (the worst health you can imagine) to 100 (the best health you can imagine).