Gender differences in procedural complications associated with atrial fibrillation catheter ablation: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 244,353 patients

Introduction: Women undergoing atrial fibrillation catheter ablation (AFCA) have higher rates of vascular complications and major bleeding. However, studies have been underpowered to detect differences in rare complications such as stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) and procedural mortality.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of databases (PubMed, World of Science, Embase) to identify studies published since 2010 reporting AFCA complications by gender. Six complications of interest were: 1) vascular/groin complications; 2) pericardial effusion/tamponade; 3) stroke/TIA; 4) permanent phrenic nerve injury; 5) major bleeding & 6) procedural mortality. For meta-analysis, random effects models were used when heterogeneity between studies was ≥ 50% (vascular complications, major bleeding) and fixed effects models for other endpoints.