LAUSR

Recent observational studies have suggested that catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) is significantly associated with reduced risk for stroke, cardiovascular events and all-cause death. However, little is known whether late recurrence of AF after catheter ablation is associated with worse clinical outcomes. We aimed to clarify whether late recurrence of AF after catheter ablation is associated with major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE). We retrospectively investigated 2,737 participants (74.4% men, mean age 63.4±10.3 years, 62.7% paroxysmal AF) who received first catheter ablation for AF and completed follow-up more than 3 months after the procedure from AF Frontier Ablation Registry, a multicenter cohort study in Japan. We evaluated an association between late recurrence of AF after catheter ablation and first MACCE in cox-regression hazard models adjusted for known risk factors. MACCE were defined as stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA), cardiovascular events or all-cause death. Late recurrence was defined as AF relapse more than 3 months after the procedure. During a mean follow-up period of 25.2 months, 2,070 patients (75.6%) were free from AF after catheter ablation and 122 patients (4.5%) had MACCE (ischemic stroke 18 [14.8%], hemorrhagic stroke 16 [13.1%], TIA 7 [5.7%], hospitalization for heart failure 19 [15.6%], acute coronary syndrome 19 [15.6%], hospitalization for other cardiovascular events 24 [20%] and all-cause death 19 [15.6%]). The MACCE occurred significantly more frequently in the recurrence group than in non-recurrence group (7.5% vs. 3.5%; hazard ratio [HR] 1.85; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28–2.65; P=0.001) (Figure). Multivariate analysis revealed that baseline age (HR 1.05; 95% CI 1.03–1.08; P<0.001), heart failure (HR 1.76; 95% CI 1.17–2.66; P=0.007), old myocardial infarction (HR 4.49; 95% CI 2.59–7.81; P<0.001), non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (HR 2.56; 95% CI 1.47–4.46; P=0.001), left atrial diameter (HR 1.22 per 5-mm increase; 95% CI, 1.06–1.41; P=0.006) and recurrence of AF (HR 1.69; 95% CI 1.17–2.44; P=0.005) were independently associated with the incidence of MACCE after catheter ablation. In the Japanese multicenter cohort of AF ablation, late recurrence of AF was independently associated with increased MACCE, suggesting the significance of sinus rhythm maintenance by catheter ablation. Kaplan-Meier curves for MACCE Type of funding source: None