A multi-center retrospective cohort analysis of age and racial disparities in patients undergoing repeat ablation for recurrent atrial fibrillation

Abstract Introduction Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common type of cardiac arrhythmia, and its prevalence has been increasing worldwide. Current data shows that AF is more common in white males compared to blacks despite blacks having multiple cardiovascular comorbidities. There is paucity of data showing the recurrence of AF re-ablation after index ablation specifically as it pertains to race, gender, and age. We sought to explore the rates of recurrent AF re-ablation in this retrospective cohort analysis. Methods Using a multi-center database, we examined 23,558 encounters and 10,530 had readmission records i.e. readmitted within 3 years. The encounters included adults (18+) who had an ablation procedure for atrial fibrillation between 1/1/2018-06/30/2020. We used binary logistic regression models and Tukey-Kramer procedure to analyze pairwise comparisons among different subgroups of race, sex, and age group. The primary endpoint was recurrence of repeat ablation. Secondary endpoints included non-fatal stroke and myocardial infarction. Results Our sample size was 23,558 patients, 20,276 were white patients (86%) and 3,282 were non-white patients (14%). The average age was 66.29 years (SD 10.43) and average age at the time of repeat ablation was 65.97 years. The average BMI was 21.55. Out of the 23,558 patients, 14.30% (N= 3368) had re-ablation within 3 years of the index ablation. The odds ratio of re-ablation for patients in their 50s is 1.4229 (95% CI [1.1172, 1.8122]) compared to patients in their 80s. Similarly, the odds ratio is 1.4330 (95% CI [1.1466, 1.7909]) for the 60-69 group, 1.3075 (95%CI [1.0458, 1.6346]) for the 70-79 group and 1.3443 (95% CI [1.0088, 1.7914]) for patients below 50 compared to over 80 group. The LR for re-ablation was 0.8438 (p=0.3583) in females. The incidence of non-fatal stroke and MI were 0.27% (N= 63) and 0.19% (N= 45). Average length of time to re-ablation was 415.5 days. Discussion When controlling for age group and sex, race was not significantly associated with an increased likelihood of repeat ablation. When controlling for race and age group, sex was not significantly associated with an increased likelihood of repeat ablation. When controlling for race only, females were not at a higher risk of re-ablation. However, when controlling for race and sex, patients in their 50s are 42.3% more likely to have re-ablation when compared to patients in their 80s. In contrast, the age of patients at their first ablation increased, there appeared to be a rising trend indicating a higher chance of AF recurrence within 3 years when controlling for race and sex. Conclusion The incidence of repeat AF ablation is not higher in racial minorities when compared to whites. Interestingly, there appears to be an decreasing rate of AF re-ablation in older patients despite a higher rate of AF recurrence as age increases possibly owing to more conservative therapeutic approach such as medical management.