Introduction
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias,
affecting almost 30 million people worldwide and expected to reach 50
million people worldwide in 20501, 2. Patients with AF
have a higher risk of reduced survival and adverse cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular events3, 4. These epidemiological
estimates could be extended to organ transplant recipients.
Studies
show that end-stage renal disease and end-stage hepatic disease patients
who receive organ grafting have an AF prevalence of 7.0% and 5.6%,
respectively, and these values are higher than that of the general
population (1%-2%)5-8. In addition, studies have
demonstrated pooled incidences of post-kidney transplant AF and
post-liver transplant AF of
4.9%
and 8.5%, respectively7, 8.
Because of ongoing improvements in surgery and medicine, the number of
organ transplant patients is steadily increasing9, 10.
These transplant recipients usually carry multiple comorbidities and
require individualized treatment. Previous studies have shown that AF is
associated with inferior survival in
abdominal
solid organ transplant recipients11-13. In addition,
the treatment of AF in solid organ transplant recipients by using
antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) is often difficult14-17,
and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) may interact
with immunosuppressive agents18, 19. Therefore, a more
reliable treatment for AF in solid organ transplant recipients is
needed.
In recent years, catheter ablation (CA) for AF has proven to be a safe
and effective treatment strategy for patients with symptomatic
AF20. However, the feasibility and outcomes of CA in
abdominal solid organ transplant recipients with AF remain unclear. In
the present study, we aimed to elucidate the feasibility, efficacy and
safety of CA in renal and hepatic
transplant recipients.