The following is a summary of “Efficacy of dapagliflozin in improving arrhythmia-related outcomes after ablation for atrial fibrillation: a retrospective single-center study,” published in the February 2024 issue of Cardiology by Noh et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate the impact of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors, specifically dapagliflozin (DAPA), on atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence following catheter ablation, considering their demonstrated cardiovascular benefits.
They examined data from 272 patients who had undergone catheter ablation for AF between January 2018 and December 2022. Patients were categorized into control (n = 199) and DAPA (n = 73), depending on whether they were prescribed DAPA following ablation. The main focus was assessing the incidence of total atrial arrhythmia recurrence following a 3-month blanking period.
The results showed that the mean age was 72.19 ± 5.45 years, with 86.8% of the male patients. At the 18-month mark following ablation, atrial arrhythmia was reported by 36.2% and 9.5% of patients in the control and DAPA groups, respectively. Upon multivariate analysis, DAPA usage was linked to a significantly decreased risk of arrhythmia recurrence (adjusted HR [aHR]: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.07–0.32, P<0.001). Following propensity score-matching (PSM) in 65 pairs, the incidence of arrhythmia recurrence was lower in the DAPA group compared to the control (8.3% versus 30.8%, aHR: 0.17, 95% CI: 0.06–0.51, P=0.002). The results indicated that freedom from total arrhythmia recurrence was significantly higher in the DAPA group compared to the control group in both the overall and PSM population (log-rank test P<0.01).
Investigators concluded that giving DAPA after AF ablation significantly lowered the risk of arrhythmia recurrence, suggesting its potential to improve the procedure’s success rate.
Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00392-024-02389-3