Among patients who underwent catheter ablation for AF, the female sex was associated with higher rate of complications compared to male but no difference in mortality. Prior CABG was associated with a significant reduction of major complications in both sexes.

Background: Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) is the most common type of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). Similar to other cardiac tests and interventions, gender bias may influence clinical decision making in providing appropriate care for AVNRT patients. We assessed for gender differences in the diagnosis and management of AVNRT patients who underwent catheter ablation. Methods: Patients who underwent catheter ablation for AVNRT were included. We explored the gender difference on various clinical parameters such as the time from SVT symptoms, SVT diagnosis, and first electrophysiology consult to time of catheter ablation. Results: Among 140 patients screened, 116 patients met the inclusion criteria, including 67.2% women. Median time from symptoms onset to SVT diagnosis was 18.5 months (interquartile range [IQR] 4.0-58.5) in women versus 4.0 months (0.75-34.7) in men, P = .005. Once SVT was diagnosed, women took a median of 12.5 months (IQR 3.0-57.0) to proceed with ablation versus 3.0months (1.0-7.0) for men, P ≤ .001. It took a longer time from the first electrophysiology consultation to ablation: 54.5 days (20.75-144.75) for women versus 20.5 days (6.0-46.25) for men, P = .008. Overall, it took 60.0 months (IQR 12.8-132.0) for women to have an ablation from initial symptoms onset versus 15 months (IQR 4.6-48.0) for men, P = .001. Prior to ablation, women had 3.78 ± 3.79 (mean ± SD) emergency department visits for SVT versus men 1.52 ± 1.72 and women tried 1.28 ± 0.82 medications versus men 0.76 ± 0.68, P < .001 and .001, respectively. Conclusions:This study demonstrates significant and multifactorial gender-related disparities in AVNRT diagnosis and treatment. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results. K E Y W O R D S atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia, catheter ablation, gender differences, supraventricular tachycardia 1

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Background: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) is the cornerstone of atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation but the recurrence rate remains relatively high in persistent patients with AF. Therefore, posterior wall isolation (PWI) in addition to PVI has been proposed to increase freedom from AF.Objective: To evaluate the success of adjunctive PWI in persistent AF. Methods:We searched electronic database using specific terms. The primary outcomes are recurrence rate of AF and recurrence of atrial arrhythmias. The secondary outcomes were atrial flutter/tachycardia (AFL/AT), procedure time, fluoroscopy time, and procedure related complications. Estimated risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were evaluated.Results: Six studies were included (1334 patients with persistent AF). Adjunctive PWI resulted in a significant reduction in the recurrence rate of AF compared with patients who had PVI only (19.8% vs 29.1%; RR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.42-0.97; P < .04; I 2 = 76%). There was a significant reduction in the recurrence rate of all atrial arrhythmia (30.8% vs 41.1%; RR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.60-0.94; P < .01; I 2 = 60%). Compared with PVI only, adjunctive PWI did not increase the rate of AFL or AT (11.6% vs 13.9%; RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.54-1.32; P < .46; I 2 = 47%) or the rate of procedure related complications (4.6% vs 3.6%; RR, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.72-2.17; P < .44; I 2 = 0%). Conclusion:In patients with persistent AF, adjunctive PWI was associated with decreased recurrence of AF and atrial arrhythmias compared with PVI alone without an increased risk of AFL or AT or procedure related complications. K E Y W O R D Satrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, meta-analysis, posterior wall isolation, pulmonary vein isolation 1 | BACKGROUND Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia, with a prevalence of 0.5% to 1% of the population, 1 and is expected to rise even more over the next decades. 2 Historically management of AF has been geared toward rate control, or rhythm control with antiarrhythmic drugs. Over the last two decades, catheter ablation has emerged as an alternative for rhythm control with medications and is now a recognized first line therapy for the treatment of AF in select populations. This is emphasized for instance in the recent American College of Cardiology updated guidelines, which states that catheter ablation may be used in selected patients with symptomatic AF and heart failure with low ejection fraction based on data to support reduced hospitalization and potentially even reduce mortality. 3

CA was superior to medical therapy in patients with AF and HFrEF in terms of symptoms, hemodynamic response, and clinical outcomes by reducing AF burden. However, these findings are applicable to the very specific patients enrolled in these trials.

AIMTo determine the prevalence of QT prolongation in a large series of end stage liver disease (ESLD) patients and its association to clinical variables and mortality.METHODSThe QT interval was measured and corrected for heart rate for each patient, with a prolonged QT cutoff defined as QT > 450 ms for males and QT > 470 ms for females. Multiple clinical variables were evaluated including sex, age, serum sodium, international normalized ratio, creatinine, total bilirubin, beta-blocker use, Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), MELD-Na, and etiology of liver disease.RESULTSAmong 406 ESLD patients analyzed, 207 (51.0%) had QT prolongation. The only clinical variable associated with QT prolongation was male gender (OR = 3.04, 95%CI: 2.01-4.60, P < 0.001). During the study period, 187 patients (46.1%) died. QT prolongation was a significant independent predictor of mortality (OR = 1.69, 95%CI: 1.03-2.77, P = 0.039). In addition, mortality was also associated with viral etiology of ESLD, elevated MELD score and its components (P < 0.05 for all). No significant reversibility in the QT interval was seen after liver transplantation.CONCLUSIONQT prolongation was commonly encountered in an ESLD population, especially in males, and served as a strong independent marker for increased mortality in ESLD patients.

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Introduction Catheter ablation (CA) has been shown to be an effective treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF). The complication rates and outcomes among octogenarians remain poorly studied. We aimed to compare trends, morbidity, and mortality associated with CA for AF among octogenarians versus those less than 80 years old. Methods Using weighted sampling from the National Inpatient Sample database, we identified patients with a primary diagnosis of AF and a primary procedure of CA (2004‐2013). Our primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes included incidence of major and minor complications. Results Among 86,119 patients who underwent CA for AF, 3,482 were 80 years old or older. Complications were significantly more frequent in octogenarians; [16.2% (564 of 3,482) versus 9.8% (8,092 of 82,637), P < 0.001]. Of note, there was no significant difference for the composite of major complications; [3.6% (124 of 3482) in octogenarians versus 2.8% (2286 of 82637), P = 0.20]. The total mortality rate was not significant in a multivariate regression analysis (odds ratio [OR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35‐2.64; P = .94). The presence of chronic renal failure (OR, 4.19; 95% CI, 2.75‐6.36; P < 0.001), anemia (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.03‐2.97; P = .04), and chronic pulmonary disease (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.11‐2.62; P = .015) were predictors of major complications in octogenarians. Conclusion Catheter ablation for AF in octogenarians does not confer a higher mortality risk than in those less than 80 years old. The procedure is associated with a higher rate of overall complications but there was no difference in terms of major complications or death. The presence of anemia, CKD or pulmonary disease were predictors of major complications in octogenarians.