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Trend and risk factors of recurrence and complications after arrhythmias radiofrequency catheter ablation: a nation-wide observational study in Taiwan
  1. Yuan Lin1,
  2. Hsin-Kuan Wu1,
  3. Te-Hsiung Wang2,
  4. Tien-Hsing Chen3,4,
  5. Yu-Sheng Lin5
  1. 1 Emergency Medicine Department, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Keelung Branch, Keelung, Taiwan
  2. 2 Department of Primary Care and Emergency Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
  3. 3 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Keelung Branch, Keelung, Taiwan
  4. 4 Biostatistical Consultation Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Keelung Branch, Keelung, Taiwan
  5. 5 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Puzi, Chiayi, Taiwan
  1. Correspondence to Dr Tien-Hsing Chen; skyheart0826{at}gmail.com and Dr Yu-Sheng Lin; dissertlin{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Objectives This study determined the recurrence and complication rates after radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for those with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT), Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW), atrial flutter (AFL), atrial fibrillation (AF) and ventricular tachycardia (VT).

Study design and setting This retrospective study included RFCAs for 2001–2010 in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Primary outcomes included perioperative complications (pericardial effusion and new-onset stroke), RFCA recurrence and long-term outcomes (high-grade atrioventricular block (AVB) and pacemaker implantation).

Results Of 19,475 patients who underwent RFCA, prevalence rates were 56.7% for PSVT, 13.5% for WPW, 9.5% for AFL, 5.1% for AF and 2.7% for VT. Prevalence rates increased in AF, AFL and VT over the study years. During an average follow-up period of 4.3 years (SD: 2.8 years), recurrence rates for PSVT, WPW, VT, AFL and AF were 2.0%, 4.9%, 5.7%, 5.8% and 16.1%, respectively. Compared with the PSVT group, the WPW and AF groups had significantly higher risk of pericardial effusion during admission (adjusted OR (aOR) 2.98, 95% CI (CI) 1.24 to 7.15; aOR 4.09, 95% CI 1.90 to 8.79, respectively); the AFL group had a higher risk of new-onset stroke during admission (aOR 4.07, 95% CI 1.39 to 11.91); the WPW group had a lower risk of high-grade AVB during follow-up (adjusted HR (aHR) 0.37, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.71) while the AFL group had a greater risk (aHR 1.74, 95% CI 1.17 to 2.60); and the AFL group had a higher risk of permanent pacemaker (aHR 2.14, 95% CI 1.27 to 3.62).

Conclusions The RFCA rate increased rapidly during 2001–2010 for AF, AFL and VT. Recurrence was associated with congenital heart disease in PSVT and WPW, and with age in AF and AFL. AFL had a higher risk of permanent pacemaker implantation and new stroke. AF had a higher risk of life-threatening pericardial effusion.

  • radiofrequency catheter ablation (RCFA)
  • Wolff–Parkinson–white syndrome
  • supraventricular tachycardia
  • complication
  • recurrence

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

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Footnotes

  • YL and H-KW contributed equally.

  • Funding This work was supported by grants from the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taiwan (CGRPG2F0011, CLRPG2C0021, CLRPG2C0022, CLRPG2C0023, CLRPG2C0024, CLRPG2G0081, CLRPG2G0082 and CLRPG2H0041).

  • Disclaimer The lead author confirms that the content of this manuscript is honest and transparent.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Ethics approval The Ethics Institutional Review Board at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital approved this study.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

  • Data sharing statement Data are available. Please contact the corresponding authors.

  • Collaborators CHEN conceived of the study. Y LIN and WU initiated the study design and WANG helped with implementation. Y LIN, WU and CHEN provided statistical expertise in clinical trial design and WANG and YS LIN conducted the primary statistical analysis. All authors contributed to refinement of the study protocol and approved the final manuscript.

  • Patient consent for publication Not required.