Associations Among The CHA₂DS₂-VASc Score And Outcome Of Catheter Ablation In Patients With Atrial Fibrillation

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the associations between theCHA₂DS₂-VASc score and outcome of catheter ablation in Atrial fibrillation（AF）patients，and Evaluate the predictive value of CHA₂DS₂-VASc score.Methods: From January1,2006to July1,2011,a cohort of481consecutive AFpatients undergoing circumferential pulmonary vein isolation procedure for AF refractoryto antiarrhythmic drugs was included in this study. CARTOTM-guided ablation Wasperformed in every case with the complete isolation of all pulmonary veins and additionallineal lesions. During a follow-up of31.26±18.97months，we received the data of435AFpatients （314male）, including298paroxysmal AF patients and137persistent AFpatients,among the patients there are44AF patients were suffered more than oneablations.The patients were divided into3groups according to the CHA₂DS₂-VASc score（group1: score0, group2:score1to2, and group3: score3to9）.Results: The patients in these3groups were136（group1）,220（group2）, and79（group3）, respectively. The left atrial dimensions became larger （group1vs.2vs.3=37.34±3.99mmvs.38.83±5.47mm vs.41.39±4.62mm， P＜0.05）, whereas theCHA₂DS₂-VASc score increased. During a follow-up of31.26±18.97months,118AFpatients of the study population suffered from recurrences,1AF patients died. Accordingto the CHA₂DS₂-VASc score,the recurrence rates of these3groups were17.6%（group1）,27.7%（group2）, and41.8%（group3）, respectively. Three groups of the recurrencerate had significant differences.The recurrence rate of the persistent AF patients washigher than paroxysmal AF patients（persistent AF vs. paroxysmal AF=23.5%vs.35.0%，P=0.012）.The groups of different CHA₂DS₂-VASc scores, left atrialdiameter and AF type remained as the independent predictor of recurrence in themultivariate analysis. Conclusion:In addition to the usefulness of predicting strokes， our studydemonstrated that the CHA₂DS₂-VASc scores was also a convenient scoring system toforecast the recurrence rate of AF after catheter ablation.