Objective To investigate the effects of cardiac exercise rehabilitation on the recurrence rate and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness after radiofrequency ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation. Methods A total of 90 patients with atrial fibrillation treated with radiofrequency ablation were selected as research subjects, and they were randomly divided into a cardiac exercise rehabilitation group or a control group, with 45 cases in each group. Patients in the cardiac exercise rehabilitation group received the 24-week cardiac exercise rehabilitation training, while the control group received basic data recording only. The EAT thickness, other body fat parameters, and plasma lipid levels of the two groups were recorded before the intervention of the cardiac exercise rehabilitation group and 24 weeks after the intervention, and the recurrence of atrial fibrillation in the two groups was recorded after 24 weeks of intervention. Results Before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in the EAT thickness, waist circumference, body weight, body mass index (BMI), or serum level of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) between the two groups (all P>0.05). After 24 weeks of intervention, the EAT thickness, waist circumference, body weight, BMI, serum TC level, and serum LDL-C level in the cardiac exercise rehabilitation group were decreased compared with those before the intervention, and all of which were smaller/lower than those in the control group (all P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the recurrence rate of atrial fibrillation between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion Cardiac exercise rehabilitation can reduce the EAT thickness, narrow the waist circumference, decrease the body weight, BMI, and serum TC and LDL-C levels in patients after radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation, and shows a trend of reducing the risk of atrial fibrillation recurrence.

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