AIMS: Persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) patients undergoing a catheter ablation are at risk for adverse outcomes, due to comorbidities and a more advanced arrhythmia substrate. There may be barriers to catheter ablation in patients with persistent AF, compared to those with paroxysmal AF. We compared long-term outcomes after ablation in patients with paroxysmal and persistent AF.
METHODS AND RESULTS: Patients undergoing de novo AF catheter ablation from April 2012 to March 2022 in Ontario, Canada, were included. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause mortality and all-cause hospitalization. Inverse probability of treatment weighting created balanced cohorts of paroxysmal and persistent AF patients. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the effect on persistent vs. paroxysmal AF. There were 10 788 patients who underwent an ablation. Persistent AF patients accounted for 25% of the population. In our weighted cohort, patients had similar age (standardized difference 0.027), female sex [standardized difference (SD) 0.018], and medical comorbidities (Charlson comorbidity score; 0.5% in both, SD 0.018). In the weighted cohort, the primary composite outcome occurred in 5.5% in paroxysmal AF and 6.3% in persistent AF at 30 days (HR 1.15, 95% CI 0.94-1.40, P = 0.168), 19.8% vs. 19.7% at 1 year (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.90-1.11, P = 0.971), and 34.1% vs. 35.4% at 3 years (HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.97-1.13, P = 0.269). There was no increased risk of the individual components at 30 days, 1 year, or 3 years.
CONCLUSION: The risk of all-cause mortality and hospitalization outcomes in persistent and paroxysmal AF patients undergoing ablation was similar at 30 days, 1 year, and 3 years post-ablation. The impact of persistent AF on long-term outcomes (i.e. all-cause mortality) is primarily attributable to comorbid conditions.