Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A proportional meta-analysis and systematic review of single-arm studies

BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Limited data exists about the efficacy and clinical outcomes of AF ablation in HCM. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the role of catheter-based ablation for treatment of AF in patients with HCM. METHODS: PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for studies discussing outcomes of catheter-based ablation for AF in patients with HCM. Two reviewers independently screened studies and extracted relevant data. Incidence rate estimates from individual studies underwent logit transformation to calculate the weighted summary proportion under the random effect model. RESULTS: A total of 19 reports met the inclusion criteria (1183 patients). The single ablation procedure was successful in 39% patients. Up to 34% patients underwent a repeat ablation. About 41% patients in normal sinus rhythm after successful AF ablation received postprocedure antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy. Patients undergoing successful AF ablation experienced a significant improvement in the New York Heart Association functional class (standardized mean difference –1.03; 95% confidence interval –1.23 to –0.83; P < .00001). CONCLUSION: AF ablation appears to be safe and feasible in patients with HCM. Freedom from AF after undergoing successful ablation is associated with significant improvement in heart failure symptoms.