Atrial Fibrillation Catheter Ablation among Cancer Patients: Utilization Trends and In-Hospital Outcomes.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) catheter ablation in cancer patients has been evaluated in very few studies. We aimed to investigate utilization trends and in-hospital outcomes of AF catheter ablation among cancer patients in a large US inpatient registry. Utilizing the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, patients who underwent AF catheter ablation between 2012 and 2019 were identified. Sociodemographic, clinical data, in-hospital procedures and outcomes were collected. Baseline characteristics and in-hospital outcomes were compared between patients with and without cancer. An estimated total of 67,915 patients underwent AF catheter ablation between 2012 and 2019 in the US. Of them, 950 (1.4%) had a cancer diagnosis. Patients with a cancer diagnosis were older and had higher Charlson Comorbidity Index, CHA2DS2-VASc and ATRIA bleeding indices scores. A higher rate of total complications was observed in cancer patients (10.5% vs. 7.9, < 0.001), driven mainly by more bleeding and infectious complications. However, no significant differences in cardiac or neurological complications as well as in-hospital mortality rates were observed and were relatively low in both groups. AF catheter ablation in cancer patients is associated with higher bleeding and infectious complication rates, but not with increased cardiac complications or in-hospital mortality in a US nationwide, all-comer registry.