In a real-world Swiss registry, catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation was associated with a 3% rate of pericardial tamponade and no other major complications.
Highlights pericardial tamponade as key risk in real-world AF ablation; extends observational safety data but leaves open prospective validation.
Introduction: Several prospective multi-center randomized trials have established the efficacy of catheter ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of this study was to assess the mid-term results after AF ablation in a real-world cohort in a single tertiary care center in Switzerland. Methods: This prospective registry comprised all patients with paroxysmal or persistent AF undergoing a catheter ablation procedure at the University Heart Center Zurich between June 2009 and April 2013 with a clinical follow-up including symptom assessment and long-term ECG monitoring for at least 24 hours. Results: A total of 275 consecutive ablation procedures were performed in 201 patients (mean age 62 9 years, 75% men). Patients had paroxysmal AF in 62% and persistent in 38%. Left ventricular ejection fraction as assessed by transthoracic echocardiogram was 58 8%, the diameter of the left atrium averaged 44 7 mm. Hypertension was present in 49%, coronary artery disease in 13% of patients. Pericardial tamponade occurred in 3% of the procedures. No other major complication requiring interventions or cardiac surgery was observed. After a follow-up period of 19.1 11.8
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Haegeli et al. (2015) studied this question.
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