AF Characteristics
A comparison of AF history and procedural characteristics between
genders is shown in Table 2. At the time of initial diagnosis, 25.3%
patients in female group had persistent AF (PersAF) vs 35.3% patients
in male group (p<0.001). The mean duration of AF, from initial
diagnosis to ablation, was 44.4 months for the study population, and was
similar for men and women (44.6 vs 44.1; p=0.91). At the time of
ablation, 31.8% female patients had PersAF as compared to 43.1%
patients in male group (p<0.001), suggesting progression of
paroxysmal AF (PAF) to PersAF in both genders.
The number of electrophysiologist appointments by women during the
period leading up to catheter ablation was similar to that of men (5.35
vs 4.95; p=0.37), but women tried more AADs than men before presenting
for catheter ablation (1.13 vs 0.98; p=0.002). In the female group,
92.2% of patients received anticoagulation before the ablation
procedure as compared to 88.6% patients in male group (p=0. 012).