Changes in pulmonary vein size and narrowing depend on the cardiac cycle before and after pulmonary vein isolation

Accurate measurement of the pulmonary vein dimension (PVD) is important for determining stenosis and efficacy following pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). Little is known about the quantitative evaluation of the impact of the cardiac cycle on pulmonary vein (PV) morphology before and after PVI. This study aims to investigate variations in the ostial size of the PV during the cardiac cycle before and after PVI and the effect of the cardiac cycle on PV stenosis and reduction rate using cardiac computed tomography (CT). Sixty-eight patients with atrial fibrillation who underwent cardiac CT before and after PVI at our institution between 23 January 2021 and 5 February 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The maximum and minimum PVD were measured at each segment before and after the PV. Each PV was evaluated according to the PVD reduction rate (ΔPVD), calculated as follows: (1 − post-PVD/pre-PVD) × 100 (