Results
This study included a total of 2293 patients undergoing catheter ablation for the first time, with 1441 males and 852 females (Figure 1). Within this group, 145 patients underwent additional catheter ablation procedures during the follow-up period. In the present cohort, the average age of the patients was 59.88 ± 10.61 years; 37.9% had persistent AF; the duration from diagnosis to ablation was 36.17 ± 39.08 months; the CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were 1.88 ± 1.56 and 0.51 ± 0.66, respectively; and 46.7% of patients underwent non-PV ablation. Females were significantly higher than males in terms of age, duration from diagnosis to ablation, CHA2DS2-VASc scores, HAS-BLED scores, and the prevalence of hypertension and vascular diseases; however, they had a significantly lower proportion of persistent AF and underwent non-PV ablation procedures less frequently (Table 1). After 1:1 PSM, the variables were comparable among groups (Supplementary Table S1).