Study Results from Yonsei University Broaden Understanding of Atrial Fibrillation (Frailty and the Effect of Catheter Ablation In the Elderly Population With Atrial Fibrillation – a Real-world Analysis)

2021 AUG 18 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx Cardiovascular Daily -- New research on Heart Disorders and Diseases - Atrial Fibrillation is the subject of a report. According to news reporting out of Seoul, South Korea, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “It is unclear whether catheter ablation is beneficial for frail elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). This study evaluated the effect of ablation on outcomes in frail elderly patients with AF.”

Financial support for this research came from Korean Healthcare Technology R&D project - Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Yonsei University, “From the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, 194,928 newly diagnosed AF patients were treated with ablation or medical therapy (rhythm or rate control) between 2005 and 2015. Among these patients, the study included 1,818 (ablation; n=119) frail and 1,907 (ablation; n=230) non-frail elderly (>= 75 years) patients. Propensity score matching was used to correct for differences between groups. During 28 months (median) follow up, the risk of all-cause death, composite outcome (allcause death, heart failure admission, stroke/systemic embolism, and sudden cardiac arrest), and each outcome did not change after ablation in frail elderly patients. However, in non-frail elderly patients, ablation was associated with a lower risk of all-cause death (3.5 and 6.2 per 100 person-years; hazard ratio [HR] 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.30-0.79; P=0.004), and composite outcome (6.9 and 11.2 per 100 person-years; HR 0.54; 95% CI 0.38-0.75; P<0.001). Ablation may be associated with a lower risk of death and composite outcome in non-frail elderly, but the beneficial effect of ablation was not significant in frail elderly patients with AF.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The effect of frailty on the outcome of ablation should be evaluated in further studies.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Frailty and the Effect of Catheter Ablation In the Elderly Population With Atrial Fibrillation - a Real-world Analysis. Circulation Journal, 2021;85(8). Circulation Journal can be contacted at: Japanese Circulation Soc, 18TH Floor Imperial Hotel Tower, 1-1-1 Uchisaiwai-Cho Chiyoda-Ku, Toyko, 100-0011, Japan.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Boyoung Joung, Yonsei University, Dept. of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, College of Medicine, 50-1 Yonsei Ro, Seoul 03722, South Korea. Additional authors for this research include Pil-Sung Yang, Jung-Hoon Sung, Daehoon Kim, Eunsun Jang, Hee Tae Yu, Tae-Hoon Kim, Jae-Sun Uhm, Jong-Youn Kim, Hui-Nam Pak and Moon-Hyoung Lee.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1253/circj.CJ-20-1062. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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