BACKGROUND: Whether ablation therapy reduces the risk of death and embolic events in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) remains unclear.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: AF patients ≥65 years old receiving either catheter ablation or non-ablation therapy at 2 tertiary and 2 non-tertiary hospitals in Beijing from November 2009 to December 2012 were enrolled. Patients were followed up every 6 months for information on treatment and clinical event occurrence. A propensity score matching algorithm produced comparable 2 groups of patients treated with ablation or non-ablation. Rates of a composite of all-cause death, non-fatal stroke, and peripheral embolism were the primary outcomes. Each composite component and major bleeding were the secondary outcomes.

RESULTS: There were 596 ablated patients and 1144 patients with non-ablation therapy enrolled. Propensity score algorithm matched 347 comparable pairs of patients. Patient characteristics variables were well balanced. During 523.5 and 497.5 patient-years follow-up, respectively, ablation therapy was associated with a significant lower risk of experiencing the primary composite outcome (hazard ratio [HR]=0.40; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.19–0.85), all-cause death (HR=0.13 95% CI: 0.04–0.43), and major bleeding (HR=0.23; 95% CI: 0.12–0.67), without apparent heterogeneity by age, sex, and AF type, and for risk score subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS: In this propensity-matched elderly sample, ablation therapy was associated with lower risk of composite outcome consisting of all-cause death, non-fatal stroke, and peripheral embolism, and therefore might be an alternative to conservative therapy.

Keywords: Atrial Fibrillation, Catheter Ablation, propensity score, Aged, 80 and over, Algorithms, Anti-Arrhythmia Agents, Embolism, Proportional Hazards Models, Risk Assessment, Risk Factors, Stroke, Warfarin