Pulsed field versus thermal ablation for atrial fibrillation: A Bayesian meta-analysis - PubMed
3 hours ago
- #Atrial fibrillation
- #Catheter ablation
- #Pulsed field ablation
- Pulsed field ablation (PFA) is a promising alternative to thermal ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF).
- A meta-analysis compared PFA with thermal ablation, involving 12 studies and 3,120 patients (46.6% PFA).
- PFA showed higher freedom from arrhythmia recurrence (HR 0.68; 95% CrI, 0.55-0.84).
- Time-to-benefit analysis indicated 12 months needed to prevent 5 arrhythmia recurrences per 100 PFA-treated patients.
- PFA had a 34.1% probability of meaningful reduction in recurrence in RCTs vs. 96.5% in observational studies.
- PFA was associated with shorter procedural and left atrial dwell times.
- No consistent excess risk in safety outcomes was observed with PFA.
- Conclusion: PFA reduces arrhythmia recurrence compared to thermal ablation, with no increased harm.