Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 7, 2026

Catheter Ablation in Combination With Left Atrial Appendage Closure for Atrial Fibrillation
28:13

Catheter Ablation in Combination With Left Atrial Appendage Closure for Atrial Fibrillation

Published on: February 26, 2013

34.2K

Long-term risk of stroke and bleeding post-atrial fibrillation ablation

Jacqueline Joza1, Michelle Samuel2, Cynthia A Jackevicius3,4,5

  • 1Division of Cardiology, McGill University Health Centre and McGill Research Institute, Montreal, Canada.

Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology
|July 27, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Catheter ablation (CA) for atrial fibrillation (AF) did not show a significant reduction in stroke or major bleeding risk when accounting for oral anticoagulation (OAC) use. Continued OAC therapy post-CA is advised based on individual risk profiles.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Medical Interventions
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Catheter ablation (CA) is a standard treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF).
  • Real-world, long-term outcomes of CA often lack consistent analysis of oral anticoagulation (OAC) use.
  • Understanding OAC patterns post-CA is crucial for evaluating treatment effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze OAC usage patterns following CA in AF patients.
  • To compare the OAC-adjusted risks of stroke and major bleeding in AF patients who underwent CA versus those who did not.
  • To provide real-world data on the long-term efficacy and safety of CA in relation to OAC management.

Main Methods:

  • A population-based cohort study in Canada (1999-2014) included AF patients.
  • Propensity score matching was used to compare outcomes between CA and non-CA groups.
  • Time-dependent OAC use was factored into the analysis of stroke and major bleeding incidence.

Main Results:

  • 6,391 patients underwent CA, compared to 482,977 controls; 1,240 CA patients were matched with 2,427 controls.
  • OAC persistence post-CA was 78% at 1 year, decreasing to 61% by 5 years.
  • No significant difference in stroke (aHR=0.88) or major bleeding (aHR=0.88) risk was observed between groups when adjusted for OAC.

Conclusions:

  • CA did not significantly reduce stroke or major bleeding risk when OAC use was considered over time.
  • Discontinuing OAC post-CA is not supported by current evidence; continued anticoagulation based on risk is recommended.
  • Further randomized trials are needed to confirm CA's stroke reduction benefits and the safety of OAC discontinuation.
Abstract

Keywords:
anticoagulationatrial fibrillationcatheter ablationstroke

More Related Videos

Robotic Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation11:21

Robotic Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

Published on: May 29, 2015

20.2K
Cooling or Warming the Esophagus to Reduce Esophageal Injury During Left Atrial Ablation in the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation06:25

Cooling or Warming the Esophagus to Reduce Esophageal Injury During Left Atrial Ablation in the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation

Published on: March 15, 2020

10.5K

Related Concept Videos

Amyloid Fibrils03:03

Amyloid Fibrils

Amyloid fibrils are aggregates of misfolded proteins.  Under most circumstances, misfolded proteins are either refolded by chaperone proteins or degraded by the proteasome. However, in the case of a mutation or a disease, these proteins can accumulate to form large clusters and often further assemble to form elongated fibers, called fibrils. 
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen.   In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining,...
12.0K
Amyloid Fibrils03:03

Amyloid Fibrils

6.5K
Bleeding in Fresh Concrete01:22

Bleeding in Fresh Concrete

Bleeding in fresh concrete occurs when water from the mix rises to the surface. This happens because the mix's solid components fail to retain all the water as they settle, leading to separation where water collects at the top. The severity of bleeding can be measured by assessing the total settlement or by noting the decrease in height per unit height of concrete.
Bleeding can cause several issues in the concrete structure. Sometimes, the rising water gets trapped beneath large aggregate...
595
Fibril-associated Collagen01:11

Fibril-associated Collagen

Fibril-associated collagens are a type of collagens present in the extracellular matrix with interrupted triple helices or FACIT (Fibril-associated collagens interrupted triple-helices). FACIT help connect and attach the collagen fibrils with each other as well as with other proteins of the extracellular matrix.
For example, the type II collagen fibrils in cartilage have covalently bound type IX fibril-associated collagens at regular intervals. Other types of fibril-associated collagens are...
3.4K
Relative Risk01:12

Relative Risk

Relative risk (RR) is a statistical measure commonly used in epidemiology to compare the likelihood of a particular event occurring between two groups. This metric is important for evaluating the relationship between exposure to a specific risk factor and the probability of a particular outcome. It plays a crucial role in medical research, public health studies, and risk assessment. Relative risk quantifies how much more (or less) likely an event is to occur in an exposed group compared to an...
2.2K
Long-term Depression01:05

Long-term Depression

Long-term depression, or LTD, is one of the ways by which synaptic plasticity—changes in the strength of chemical synapses—can occur in the brain. LTD is the process of synaptic weakening that occurs over time between pre and postsynaptic neuronal connections. The synaptic weakening of LTD works in opposition to synaptic strengthening by long-term potentiation (LTP) and together are the main mechanisms that underlie learning and memory.
33.3K