Statistical Analysis
The continuous variables are presented as the mean ± standard deviation together with the 95% confidence intervals. Categorical variables were expressed as numbers and percentages. The significance of any differences between the two groups was analyzed with an unpairedt -test and Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables, and with a Fisher’s exact probability test for categorical variables. A predictive analysis of AF recurrence during the follow-up period was assessed using multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models. A multivariate analysis with multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models was performed to isolate the independent criteria of AF recurrence after ablation. Only the variables with significant P-values in the univariate analysis were included in the multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression. A Kaplan-Meier event-free survival analysis was conducted to assess the cumulative freedom from AF recurrence. A value of P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.