Population-Level Sex Differences and Predictors for Treatment With Catheter Ablation in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure

Background: Current guidelines are relatively general regarding the type of patient with heart failure (HF) who should be considered for catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation (AF). The aim of the present study was to identify clinical predictors and sex differences for treatment with CA in the AF-HF population.

Methods: A population-based AF-HF cohort was created using the Quebec administrative data (2000-2017). Patients were followed from the date of diagnosis of both diseases to the date of CA or death. Predictors for CA, represented by time-varying covariates, were assessed in a multivariable Cox model that accounted for the competing risk of death.

Results: Among 101,931 patients with AF-HF with medication information (median age, 80.7 years; interquartile range [IQR], 73.9-86.3; 51.4% were female, median CHADS-VASc, 4; IQR, 3-4), only 432 (0.4%) underwent CA after a median of 0.8 years (IQR, 0.1-2.7). Independent of multiple comorbidities and advanced age, which were associated with a lower likelihood of CA, women were approximately half as likely to undergo a CA (26% were women; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.6; 95% confidence interval, 0.4-0.7). Prior use of direct-acting oral anticoagulants and antiarrhythmics, and the presence of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator were also predictors for CA treatment ( < 0.05 for all).

Conclusion: In a real-world population, CA was infrequently used to treat AF among patients with HF, and the likelihood of CA was further reduced in women. Because patients with CA had few comorbidities, future studies need to be conducted to determine whether CA can be beneficial in subjects whose clinical characteristics are more representative of the AF-HF population.