Influence of risk factors in the ESC-EHRA EORP atrial fibrillation ablation long-term registry

BACKGROUND: The influence of risk factors on atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation recurrence is increasingly recognized. We present a sub-analysis of the European Society of Cardiology-European Heart Rhythm Association-European Society of Cardiology AF ablation long-term registry on the effect of traditional risk factors for AF on postablation recurrence, reablation, and complications using real-world data. METHODS: Risk factors for AF were defined as body mass index ≥27 kg/m², hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, alcohol ≥2 units/day, sleep apnea, smoking, no/occasional sports activity, moderate/severe mitral or aortic valve disease, any cardiomyopathy, peripheral vascular disease, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, coronary artery disease/infarction, and previous pacemaker/defibrillator implant. Patients were divided in two groups with ≥1 or without risk factors. Primary outcomes were arrhythmia recurrence after blanking period, reablation, and adverse events or death. Differences between the groups and the influence of individual risk factors were analyzed using multivariate Cox regression. RESULTS: Three thousand sixty nine patients were included; 217 patients were without risk factors. Risk factor patients were older (58.4 vs 54.1 years), more often female (32% vs 19.8%) and had more often persistent AF (27.2% vs 23.5%). In a multivariate analysis, patients without risk factors had a hazard ratio of 0.70 (95% CI 0.49-0.99) for recurrence compared to risk factor patients. The multivariate hazard ratios for reablation or adverse events/death were not different between the two groups. Hypertension and body mass index were univariate predictors of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with ≥1 risk factor had a 30% higher risk for arrhythmia recurrence after ablation, but no differences in risk for repeat ablations and adverse events or death.