Efficacy and safety of the second‐generation cryoballoon ablation for the treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation in elderly patients

BACKGROUND: It is expected that ablation procedures will be increasingly offered to a more aged population affected with persistent AF (persAF); however, the clinical outcomes of ablation in this specific population are not well described. We aimed to analyze the efficacy and safety of CB‐A in this group of patients compared with a younger cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty‐three patients with (persAF) aged ≥75 years (group 1; mean age 78.2 ± 3.1 years) and 166 patients also affected with persAF aged <75 years (group 2; mean age 64.3 ± 6.6 years) were included in the study. The primary outcome was freedom from recurrent sustained (>30 seconds) atrial arrhythmias without anti‐arrhythmic medication after a blanking period of 3 months. At 2 years, clinical success was achieved in 108 out of 249 patients (43.4%). Median follow‐up was 24 months (IQR: 18.4‐25.5 months). Older patients suffered from more recurrences than those in the younger cohort ((53/83 patients, 63.9% vs 88/166 patients, 53.0%; P = .03). Thirty (12.0%) patients suffered a complication, but the incidence of complications was not different between both groups. The most frequent complication was transient phrenic nerve injury. CONCLUSIONS: The global 2 years efficacy of CB‐A PVI in persAF is 43.4%. A lower success rate is achieved in the older patients (36.1%) compared to the younger age group (47.0%). However, the complication rate was not different between age groups.