Chen F, Sun Q, Li H, et al. - Whether left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction holds the potential to be a predictor of atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence following radiofrequency catheter ablation, was determined in this study. Researchers performed dual Doppler and M-PW mode echocardiography in 67 patients with AF before ablation and 47 patients with sinus rhythm. A follow-up was conducted one year post-ablation. AF patients vs controls exhibited increased TE-e’ [the time interval between the onset of early transmitral flow peak velocity (E) and that of early diastolic mitral annular velocity (e’)], the ratio of E to color M-mode Doppler flow propagation velocity (Vp), the Tei index, the ratio of E and mitral annular septal (S) peak velocity in early diastolic and the ratio of E and mitral annular lateral (L) peak velocity. A total of 21/67 (31.34%) patients suffered a recurrence of AF, as reported at the one-year follow-up examination. Findings are indicative of the efficacy as well as the accuracy of dual Doppler echocardiography as a technique for assessing LV diastolic function within AF patients. AF recurrence, determined at 1 year post-ablation, could be independently predicted by the TE-e’ obtained within identical cardiac cycles.