{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:32:27Z","timestamp":1760059947203,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,23]],"date-time":"2025-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753228800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medical Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) are common arrhythmias associated with symptoms such as fatigue and, in severe cases, PVC-induced cardiomyopathy. Catheter ablation (CA) is a primary treatment for symptomatic PVCs, particularly when pharmacological therapies fail or are undesired. While improvements in: quality-of-life following ablation are documented, its impact on functional capacity remains underexplored. Objectives: This study evaluated the impact of CA on functional capacity and cardiac stress markers in patients with symptomatic PVCs using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and NT-proBNP levels. Methods: A total of 30 patients underwent successful PVC ablation and completed baseline and follow-up CPET evaluations under the Bruce protocol. PVC burden, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), NT-proBNP levels, and CPET parameters, including VO2 max, METS, ventilatory efficiency, and anaerobic threshold (AT), were analyzed pre- and post-ablation. Results: PVC burden significantly decreased post-ablation (23,509.3 \u00b1 10,700.47 to 1759 \u00b1 1659.15, p &lt; 0.001). CPET revealed improved functional capacity, with VO2 max increasing from 24.97 \u00b1 4.16 mL\/kg\/min to 26.02 \u00b1 4.34 mL\/kg\/min (p = 0.0096) and METS from 7.16 \u00b1 1.17 to 7.48 \u00b1 1.24 (p = 0.0103). NT-proBNP significantly decreased (240.93 \u00b1 156.54 pg\/mL to 138.47 \u00b1 152.91 pg\/mL, p = 0.0065). LVEF and ventilatory efficiency metrics (VE\/VO2 and VE\/VCO2) remained stable. Conclusions: Catheter ablation improves functional capacity, reduces cardiac stress, and minimizes medication dependency in patients with symptomatic PVCs. These findings support the utility of ablation in enhancing aerobic capacity and overall exercise performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medsci13030095","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,23]],"date-time":"2025-07-23T11:52:47Z","timestamp":1753271567000},"page":"95","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Impact of Catheter Ablation on Functional Capacity and Cardiac Stress Markers in Patients with Premature Ventricular Contractions"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-5789-0256","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vasileios","family":"Cheilas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Athanasios","family":"Dritsas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-4669-0179","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonios","family":"Martinos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Evangelia","family":"Gkirgkinoudi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7015-7746","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giorgos","family":"Filandrianos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Artificial Intelligence Lab, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-4937-1396","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anastasios","family":"Chatziantoniou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ourania","family":"Kariki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Panagiotis","family":"Mililis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8200-4050","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Athanasios","family":"Saplaouras","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anna","family":"Kostopoulou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Konstantinos","family":"Letsas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michalis","family":"Efremidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, 17674 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"26","article-title":"Current Concepts of Premature Ventricular Contractions","volume":"3","author":"Ahn","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. 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