Methods and results
The Medline and EMBASE databases were searched for published articles up
to Octomber 2022. Studies that met our predefined inclusion criteria
were included. The primary endpoints were freedom from AF/atrial
tachycardia (AT) recurrence, safety ouctcomes including the
stroke/transient ischaemic attack (TIA), cardiac tamponade and
pericardial effusion. After literature search and detailed assessment, 6
studies (9982 patients) were identified. Our analyses showed that the
rate of freedom from AF/AT recurrence was higher in young than old AF
patients after ablation [odds ratio (OR): 0.58, 95% confidence
interval (CI) 0.36–0.92; P -0.02]. Compared to older patients, there
were similar rate of adverse outcomes including pericardial effusion
/tamponade (OR=0.61, 95%CI 0.29-1.27,P=0.18), hematoma(OR=1.87, 95%CI
0.62,5.63, P=0.27) and stroke/ TIA rate(OR=0.25, 95%CI 0.05,1.41,
P=0.12) .