AF Characteristics
A comparison of AF history and procedural characteristics between genders is shown in Table 2. At the time of initial diagnosis, 25.3% patients in female group had persistent AF (PersAF) vs 35.3% patients in male group (p<0.001). The mean duration of AF, from initial diagnosis to ablation, was 44.4 months for the study population, and was similar for men and women (44.6 vs 44.1; p=0.91). At the time of ablation, 31.8% female patients had PersAF as compared to 43.1% patients in male group (p<0.001), suggesting progression of paroxysmal AF (PAF) to PersAF in both genders.
The number of electrophysiologist appointments by women during the period leading up to catheter ablation was similar to that of men (5.35 vs 4.95; p=0.37), but women tried more AADs than men before presenting for catheter ablation (1.13 vs 0.98; p=0.002). In the female group, 92.2% of patients received anticoagulation before the ablation procedure as compared to 88.6% patients in male group (p=0. 012).