Why the study?
Catheter ablations are increasingly performed in elderly patients, but publications focusing on procedural safety and success in this subgroup are sparse.
Is catheter ablation safe and effective in elderly patients with cardiac arrhythmias?
Is catheter ablation safe and effective in elderly patients with cardiac arrhythmias?
Individual patient health status, rather than chronological age alone, should guide the decision to perform catheter ablation in elderly patients.
Supports individualized health status assessment over age-based exclusion for ablation; leaves open need for prospective randomized confirmation.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Catheter ablations are established treatment options for cardiac arrhythmias. Despite the fact that they are increasingly performed in elderly patients, publications focusing on procedural safety and success concerning this patient subgroup are sparse. The purpose of this review is to inform about current and upcoming studies regarding catheter ablations in the elderly. RECENT FINDINGS: The overall pattern of available studies is indistinct because of varying age limits and scant patient populations. Most studies do not identify advanced patient age as a promoting factor for peri-procedural complications and recurrence rates. There are a few upcoming publications with regards to catheter ablations in the elderly, some of which might produce new insight. SUMMARY: The results at hand might implicate, that in most cases individual patient health could be decisive instead of mere patient age to promise well-tolerated and effective catheter ablation in aged patients. Nevertheless, further studies with larger patient populations are needed to clarify the role of catheter ablation in aged patients.
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Feldt et al. (2018) studied this question.
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