ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. General Cardiovascular Medicine
Clinical Comparison of Cryoballoon Ablation and Radiofrequency Ablation in the Treatment of Persistent Atrial Fibrillation
Jiaxin Luan 1,2
Xinyu Zhang 3
Zixuan Meng 1
Jianqing She 1
Rui Shi 4
Yixin Zhao 1
Lihong Fan 1
Yang Liu 1
Yue Wu 1
Hongbing Li 1
1. The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
2. Ninth Hospital of Xi'an, Xi'an, China
3. Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
4. Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, London, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Aims To analyze and compare the efficacy and safety of cryoballoon catheter ablation (CBA) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the first treatment of patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (PerAF). Methods 116 patients with PerAF who underwent the first-time catheter ablation were enrolled retrospectively, including 56 patients in CBA group and 60 patients in RFA group. The primary endpoint was symptomatic onset after 3 months of ablation or occurrence of atrial arrhythmia (ATA) with any documented duration more than 30 seconds. The secondary endpoints were perioperative complications and re-ablation 3 month after procedure. Results No remarkable difference existed between CBA group and RFA group in the recurrence rate one year after operation (CBA 16.1% vs. RFA 23.3%, P=0.360). Additionally, the complication rates were similar between the two groups (CBA 25.0% vs. RFA 35.0%, P=0.312). Conclusion In this real-world study, the effectiveness and overall safety of CBA and RFA in the treatment of PerAF were comparable.
Summary
Keywords
Cryoballoon catheter ablation, efficacy, Persistent atrial fibrillation, Radiofrequency ablation, Safety
Received
17 December 2025
Accepted
03 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Luan, Zhang, Meng, She, Shi, Zhao, Fan, Liu, Wu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Xinyu Zhang; Hongbing Li
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