Clinical outcomes of pulmonary vein isolation versus antiarrhythmic drugs as first-line therapy for atrial fibrillation: a propensity score-matched analysis

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) has increasingly demonstrated superiority over antiarrhythmic drugs (AAD) for rhythm control in atrial fibrillation (AF). However, large-scale, long-term, real-world studies comparing these two therapies as first-line AF management remain limited.

METHODS: Using the TriNetX network, we identified patients (≥ 18 years old) with AF between 2012 and 2019. Patients were categorized into two cohorts: PVI vs. AAD as first-line therapy for AF. Patients were followed for 5 years, with the primary outcome being a composite of all-cause death, all-cause hospitalization, and heart failure exacerbation. Secondary outcomes included ischemic stroke and major bleeding events (intracranial bleeding/ gastrointestinal bleeding). Subanalyses were performed in the paroxysmal and persistent AF cohorts, respectively.

RESULTS: Among 342,230 eligible patients, 2,638 patients (mean age 64.3 ± 10.6 years) who underwent PVI and 2,638 patients (mean age 64.2 ± 13.1 years) who had AAD as first-line therapy for AF had similar propensity scores and were included in the analysis. At 5-year follow-up, the PVI group had a lower risk of the primary composite outcome compared to the AAD group (42.0% vs. 51.1%; HR 0.76; 95% CI, 0.71-0.83; P