Effect of early catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation in patients with heart failure.

INTRODUCTION: According to current guidelines, pulmonary vein isolation as first-line therapy should be considered for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), however, optimal timing of the procedure is still unknown in patients with heart failure (HF). We aimed to evaluate the effect of early catheter ablation (CA) in patients with HF and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) below 50%. METHODS: We analyzed data from a structured registry comprising 227 patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF and HF with LVEF < 50% who underwent radiofrequency CA between 2015 and 2022. Early CA was defined as a procedure performed within 12 months of AF diagnosis. The median follow-up duration was 1748 (1176.3-2353.5) days, with a minimum follow-up of 365 days. Our endpoints were AF recurrence after a 3-months blanking period and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: Among the 227 patients with a median age of 64.3 years, 97 (42.7%) experienced AF recurrence and 55 (24.2%) died during the follow-up period. The median LVEF was 40% for early CA and 38% for delayed CA (p = .053). Early CA significantly reduced AF recurrence (HR = 0.25 [0.15-0.42], p < .001), however, the timing of procedure did not affect all-cause mortality (p = .16). These findings were consistent regardless of AF subtype or the burden of comorbidities, as assessed by the CHA2DS2-VASc score. CONCLUSION: The timing of CA of AF appears to be an important factor in patients with HF. Early CA reduced AF recurrence, although it does not impact all-cause mortality. We found similar results regardless of AF subtype or burden of comorbidities.

Sex differences in one-year recurrence and all-cause mortality following catheter ablation of ventricular tachycardia in structural heart disease.

Aims: We aimed to establish sex-specific predictors for 1-year VT recurrence and 1-year all-cause mortality in patients with structural heart disease undergoing catheter ablation. Methods: We analyzed data of 299 patients recorded in our structured registry. These included medical history, echocardiography parameters, laboratory results, VT properties, procedural data. Results: Out of the 299 patients, 34 (11%) were female. No significant difference was found between women and men in terms of VT recurrence (p = 0.74) or mortality (p = 0.07). In females, severe mitral regurgitation (MR), tricuspid regurgitation (TR), presentation with incessant VT, and preprocedural electrical storm (ES) were associated with increased risk of VT recurrence. Diabetes, implanted CRT, VT with hemodynamic instability, ES and advanced MR were the risk factors of mortality in women. ACEi/ARB use predicted a favorable outcome in both endpoints among females. In men, independent predictors of VT recurrence were the composite parameter of ES and multiple ICD therapies, presentation with incessant VT, severe MR, while independent predictors of mortality were age, LVEF, creatinine and previously implanted CRT. Conclusion: According to our investigation, there are pronounced sex differences in predictors of recurrence and mortality following VT ablation.