Clinical InvestigationTrends and predictors of repeat catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation
Section snippets
Data source
We conducted a retrospective descriptive analysis using administrative claims data from the Optum Labs Data Warehouse, a database including privately insured and a number of Medicare Advantage enrollees throughout the United States.8 The database contains longitudinal health information on >100 million enrollees over the last 20 years from geographically diverse regions across the United States, with greatest representation from the South and Midwest.9 The included plans provide claims for
Results
Between January 2004 and September 2014, 8,648 adult patients in our study cohort underwent catheter ablation for AF. Median age was 61 (interquartile range [IQR] 54-68) years, and 70.9% were men (Table I). A total of 7196 (83.2%) patients in our cohort were white, and 5,995 (69.3%) had been prescribed AADs.
Median follow-up was 1.1 (IQR 0.5-2.3) years. A total of 1,263 (14.6%) patients underwent repeat ablation over a total of 14,280.6 person-years. A total of 9.1 men and 8.2 women underwent
Discussion
The major findings of this study are that (1) about 1 in 8 patients who undergo ablation will undergo a repeat procedure within 1 year of the index ablation, and that (2) the rate of repeat AF ablation may be influenced by demographic characteristics (eg, younger patients, higher household income, southern United States), and (3) is less affected by clinical factors or comorbidities.
The rate of repeat ablation in our study is comparable to the previously reported 11% 1-year repeat ablation rate
Funding sources
None
Disclosures
Douglas L. Packer, MD
2013-2014
Consulting services: $0
Abiomed, Biosense Webster, Inc, Boston Scientific, CardioDX, CardioFocus, CardioInsight Technologies, Excerpta Medica, FoxP2 Medica LLC, InfoBionic, Inc, Johnson & Johnson Healthcare Systems, Johnson & Johnson, MediaSphere Medical, LLC, Medtronic CryoCath, OrthoMcNeill, Sanofi-aventis, Siemens, St. Jude Medical, and Siemens AG. Dr Packer received no personal compensation for these consulting activities.
Research funding:
American Heart
Acknowledgements
None.
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