Effect of Antiarrhythmic Drug Initiation on Readmission After Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation

JACC. Clinical Electrophysiology
Peter A NoseworthyDouglas L Packer

Abstract

This study sought to evaluate the impact on antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) initiation on the risk of readmission after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF) among patients not already treated with an AAD. Hospital readmission, a commonly tracked indicator of quality and efficiency of care delivery, occurs in about 15% patients within 90 days of undergoing catheter ablation for AF. Using a large national administrative claims database, we identified all atrial fibrillation patients (≥18 years of age) who underwent catheter ablation between January 2005 and December 2013 (n = 7,442). We identified the subset of patients who had not been on an AAD in the 90 days before ablation (n = 2,542) and, among those, the patients in whom an AAD was initiated at discharge following the ablation (n = 519). The readmission rate was significantly lower among patients who were initiated on an AAD compared with those who were not (11.6% vs. 16.2%, p = 0.009). The association persisted after adjustment for age, sex, Charlson index, and CHADS2 score (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56 to 0.97; p = 0.03). In unadjusted time to event analysis, amiodarone (HR: 0.55, 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.94; p = 0.039) was associated with the ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Mar 30, 2018·European Heart Journal·Sean D Pokorney, James P Daubert
Feb 14, 2018·Europace : European Pacing, Arrhythmias, and Cardiac Electrophysiology : Journal of the Working Groups on Cardiac Pacing, Arrhythmias, and Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology·Gheorghe-Andrei DanUNKNOWN ESC Scientific Document Group
Jul 21, 2017·Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy·Andrei D Margulescu, Lluis Mont

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