Table 5.
Individual case analysis of adverse events in 43 031 catheter ablations for either atrial fibrillation, right atrial isthmus dependent atrial flutter, or ventricular tachycardias
| AF/AFLA/VT ablations | Overall complications (%) | Femoral vascular complications (%) | Stroke (%)a | Iatrogenic tamponade (%) | In-hospital death (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1569 | 12 (0.76)c | 7 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 5 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) |
| 2006 | 1289 | 3 (0.23) | 1 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) |
| 2007 | 1437 | 9 (0.63) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.09) | 6 (0.4) | 2 (0.1) |
| 2008 | 1916 | 18 (0.94) | 4 (0.2) | 5 (0.3) | 8 (0.4) | 1 (0.1) |
| 2009 | 2056 | 27 (1.31) | 7 (0.3) | 5 (0.3) | 13 (0.6) | 2 (0.1) |
| 2010 | 2001 | 27 (1.35)c | 12 (0.6) | 2 (0.1) | 8 (0.4) | 5 (0.2) |
| 2011 | 3032 | 39 (1.29) | 9 (0.3) | 4 (0.1) | 20 (0.7) | 6 (0.2) |
| 2012 | 3022 | 46 (1.52) | 16 (0.5) | 5 (0.2) | 23 (0.8) | 2 (0.1) |
| 2013 | 3236 | 54 (1.67) | 14 (0.4) | 5 (0.2) | 30 (0.9) | 5 (0.2) |
| 2014 | 3306 | 51 (1.54) | 7 (0.2) | 7 (0.2) | 33 (1.0) | 4 (0.1) |
| 2015 | 3354 | 49 (1.46)c | 7 (0.2) | 4 (0.1) | 28 (0.8) | 10 (0.3) |
| 2016 | 3404 | 46 (1.35) | 18 (0.5) | 3 (0.1) | 19 (0.6) | 6 (0.2) |
| 2017 | 3431 | 42 (1.22) | 8 (0.2) | 6 (0.2) | 22 (0.6) | 6 (0.2) |
| 2018 | 3446 | 50 (1.45) | 12 (0.3) | 6 (0.2) | 27 (0.8) | 5 (0.1) |
| 2019 | 3215 | 62 (1.93) | 14 (0.4) | 6 (0.2) | 29 (0.9) | 13 (0.4) |
| 2020 | 3317 | 60 (1.81)c | 21 (0.6) | 6 (0.2) | 28 (0.8) | 5 (0.2) |
| 2005–20 | 43 031 | 594 (1.38) | 157 (0.36) | 65 (0.17) | 300 (0.70) | 72 (0.17)b |
aAs data and incidences for post-interventional strokes were only available from three out of four participating centres, percentages refer to the total amount of ablation procedures performed by only three centres each year.
bOne patient (Patient 2 Supplementary material online, Appendix Table S6) who died had an ablation for VT and AFL during the same hospital stay. Thus, the overall number differs from the sum by one patient.
cOverall complications were significantly lower in 2005 vs. 2020 (P = 0.004) but not significantly different comparing 2010/15 to 2020 (P = 0.2 and P = 0.25, respectively).