title: Readmissions and repeat procedures after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of all-cause rehospitalization and due to atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF/AFl), repeat ablation of AF/AFl, mortality within 30 days and 1-year follow-up in patients after AF/AFl ablation procedure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using data from the National Health Fund we identified a database comprising 2,022 patients who underwent AF/AFl ablation between January, 2012 and December, 2012 in Poland. The primary endpoint was readmission to hospital with discharge diagnosis AF/AFl. The secondary endpoints included: repeat AF/AFl ablation, cardiovascular hospitalization, all-cause hospitalization, all-cause mortality assessed in 30-day and 1-year time frame.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age was 58.6 ± 10.9 years (66.8% male). The mean time of the index ablation hospitalization was 3.8 ± 2.6 days. After discharge, 123 (6.1%) and 540 (26.7%) patients were hospitalized because of AF/AFl within 30 days and 1 year, respectively. During 1-year follow-up, 192 (9.5%) patients underwent subsequent AF/AFl ablations. The patients that underwent the second ablation were younger (56.6 ± 11.0 vs. 59.1 ± 10.8; p = 0.019) and the time of the index hospitalization was shorter (3.75 ± 2.16 vs. 4.45 ± 3.26; p = 0.03). Within 30 days 194 (9.6%) patients were hospitalized and 747 (36.9%) in 1-year follow-up. All-cause mortality was 0.1% and 1.4% in 30-day and 1-year follow-up, respectively. In a 1-year follow-up patients hospitalized from AF/AFl recurrence were more frequently hospitalized due to cardiovascular diseases other than AF/AFl (9.6% vs. 6.7%; p = 0.026), especially due to hypertension (2.9% vs. 0.7%; p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Over 1 out of 4 patients who underwent AF/AFl ablation were hospitalized due to arrhythmia recurrence in 1 year.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Opolski
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Cardiology Medical University of Warsaw. lukasz.jan.januszkiewicz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Januszkiewicz
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Szczerba
authors.forename: Bogusława
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Osińska
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rutkowski
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kalarus
authors.forename: Jarosław
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaźmierczak
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000639:trends*; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012008:Recurrence; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends
keywords: ablation; atrial fibrillation; pulmonary vein isolation