The Belgian experience with concomitant surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation: a multi-centre prospective registry

Background: The Belgian 'National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (RIZIV-INAMI)' requested prospective collection of data on all ablations in Belgium to determine the outcomes of surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) during concomitant cardiac surgery.Methods: 890 patients undergoing concomitant ablation for AF between 2011 and 2016 were prospectively followed. Freedom from AF with and without anti-arrhythmic drugs was calculated for 817 patients with follow-up beyond the 3-month blanking period and for 574 patients with sufficient rhythm-related follow-up consisting of at least one Holter registration or a skipped Holter due to AF being evident on ECG. Besides preoperative AF type, concomitant procedure and ablation, potential covariates were entered into uni- and multivariable regression models to determine predictors of outcome.Results: The overall freedom from AF beyond 3 months was 69.9% (571/817) and without anti-arrhythmic drugs at last follow-up 51.0% (417/817), respectively, 61.3% (352/574) and 44.4% (255/574) for patients with sufficient rhythm-related follow-up. Using a Kaplan-Meier estimate, freedom from AF was 89.3%, 74.9% and 59%, without antiarrhythmic drugs 74.4%, 47.8% and 32.3% at 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively. In-hospital mortality was 1.7% (15/890) and the overall survival was 95.0% at 1 year and 92.3% at 2 years. Preoperative left atrial diameter and AF type were significant predictive factors of freedom from AF in a multivariable analysis.Conclusion: Analysis of the Belgian national registry shows that concomitant surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation is safe, achieves favourable freedom from AF and, therefore, deserves to be performed in accordance to the guidelines.