Epicardial adipose tissue is associated with higher recurrence risk after catheter ablation in atrial fibrillation patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to investigate the association between epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) and atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence risk after catheter ablation. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases up to November 30, 2021 without language restrictions. Outcome was the relative risk (RR) of EAT contributes to AF recurrence after catheter ablation. The RR and 95% confidence interval (CI) was pooled by the random-effect model. RESULTS: 10 studies that contained 1840 AF patients were included in our study. The result of this study showed that EAT amount was associated with higher risk of AF recurrence after catheter ablation (RR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.02–1.11, P = 0.005) and EAT related thickness was a risk factor for AF recurrence after catheter ablation (RR = 1.73, 95% CI 1.04–2.87, P = 0.040). Sub-analysis showed that EAT was strongly associated with higher risk of AF recurrence common in Asian population (RR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.10–1.43, P < 0.001), patients aged ≤ 60 years old (RR = 2.01, 95% CI 1.18–3.44, P = 0.010), and follow-up more than 1 year (RR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.01–1.11, P = 0.020). CONCLUSION: The meta-analysis demonstrated that EAT related thickness seems to be the marker most strongly associated with a greater risk of AF recurrences after catheter ablation. It should be included into risk stratification for predicting AF recurrent before catheter ablation. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-022-02703-9.