Effect of Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation on Morbidity and Mortality

Methods and Results—A retrospective cohort of patients with AF without prior stroke or heart failure (HF) who underwent RFA between 2003 and 2009 was identified using Taiwan’s National Health Insurance claims database. Outpatients with AF who met the same enrollment criteria but did not receive RFA were matched (≤1:20) by hospitals and dates to serve as controls. Outcomes of interest were death, stroke, or hospitalization for HF. A proportional hazard Cox regression model adjusted by propensity scores (based on age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, comorbidities, medications, and medical resource utilization) was applied to estimate the hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval. Read more