Recurrenceof atrial fibrillationafter catheter ablationin overweight patients

Sammanfattning: Introduction: Overweight and obesity are associated with onset and progression of atrial fibrillation (AF). Catheter ablation is considered a safe and curative therapy in advanced stages of AF.In this retrospective study wewanted toinvestigate the impact of overweight and obesity on AF-recurrence after ablation,in patients with symptomatic AF undergoing successful elective catheter ablation.Methods:The study population included 90 patients with symptomatic AF who received elective catheter ablation at University Hospital Örebro between 2015-2016. Patients were categorized into 3 study groups: Lean (<25.0 kg/m2), Overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m2) and Obese (≥30 kg/m2). Recurrence was defined as clinical symptoms and electrocardiogram (ECG)recording consistent with AF within 3 -12 months after ablation.Fisher’s exact test was used to compare AF-recurrence between BMI groups. Results:Out of 90 patients included, 3 were excluded due to missing data. BMI-categories consisted of 17 (19.6%) lean, 47 (54.0%) overweight and 23 (26,4%) obesepatients. Recurrence rates in the different groups were 5.9% in the lean group, 29.8%in the overweight group and 17.4% in the obese group.Compared to lean patients, AF-recurrence was statistically significantly higher in the overweight population (p=0.04), but not in the obese population (p=0.3). BMI was not an independent predictor of AF-recurrence after ablation in the univariate (p=0.52) and multivariate logistic regression analysis (p=0.18).Conclusion:Compared to lean patients,recurrence of AF after catheter ablation was statistically significantly higher in overweight patients, but not in obese patients. BMI seemed not to be an independent predictor of AF-recurrence.