Trial reportJournal of the American Heart Association2017
The Impact of Cryoballoon Versus Radiofrequency Ablation for Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation on Healthcare Utilization and Costs: An Economic Analysis From the FIRE AND ICE Trial.
Trial report in Journal of the American Heart Association, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Controlled, Prospective, Non-Inferiority, Parallel-Group, Randomised, Interventional, Open, Blinded Outcome Assessment (PROBE-Design), Multi-centre Trial, Comparing Efficacy and Safety of Isolation of the PVs With a Cryoballoon Catheter vs a Radiofrequency Ablation With a ThermoCool Catheter in Patients With PAF
From the Emergency Department Directly to Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation - Study - The "EMERGE-Cryo-Study"
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Second-generation cryoballoon versus contact force radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation: an updated meta-analysis of evidence from randomized controlled trials.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Quality of life and healthcare utilisation improvements after atrial fibrillation ablation.Heart (British Cardiac Society) · 2021Trial
- Cost-saving strategies for sustainable surgical care: a scoping review of efficiency models and potential approaches for low-income and middle-income countries.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- From the Emergency Department, Directly to Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation: Rationale and Design of the EMERGE Cryo Study.CJC open · 2026Article
- PULSE survey: Population Survey on Knowledge, Gaps and Perception of Heart Rhythm disorders-an initiative of the Scientific Initiatives Committee of the European Heart Rhythm Association.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2025Article
- Global Research Progress on Radiofrequency Ablation in Cardiology.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Review
- An economic evaluation of first-line cryoballoon ablation versus antiarrhythmic drug therapy for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation from a German healthcare payer perspective.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Early Cryoablation After First Diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation Reduces Arrhythmia Recurrence in Heart Failure Patients.JACC. Asia · 2024Article
- A meta-analysis and cost-minimization analysis of cryoballoon ablation versus radiofrequency ablation for paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.Journal of arrhythmia · 2024Article
- An economic evaluation of first-line cryoballoon ablation vs antiarrhythmic drug therapy for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation from a U.S. Medicare perspective.Heart rhythm O2 · 2023Article
- Cryoballoon temperature parameters during cryoballoon ablation predict pulmonary vein reconnection and atrial fibrillation recurrence.Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing · 2023Article
- Electrophysiology lab efficiency comparison between cryoballoon and point-by-point radiofrequency ablation: a German sub-analysis of the FREEZE Cohort study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2023Article
- Healthcare Utilization and Outcomes in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Treated by Drug Therapy versus a Catheter Ablation Strategy-A Middle European Propensity Score Matched Cohort Study.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2022Article
- A Simplified Approach to Pulmonary Vein Visualization during Cryoballoon Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- How effective is cryoablation in the treatment of atrial fibrillation?European heart journal supplements : journal of the European Society of Cardiology · 2021Article
- Atrial fibrillation ablation in heart failure patients: improved systolic function after cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation.ESC heart failure · 2020Article
- The Role of the Electrophysiologist in Convergent Ablation.Arrhythmia & electrophysiology review · 2020Review
- Long-term outcomes of cryoballoon pulmonary vein isolation for paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation in Chinese patients.Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing · 2020Article
- Novel three-dimensional imaging approach for cryoballoon navigation and confirmation of pulmonary vein occlusion.Pacing and clinical electrophysiology : PACE · 2020Article
- Outcomes of cryoballoon or radiofrequency ablation in symptomatic paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2019Observational
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
14 authors at 10 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study sought to assess payer costs following cryoballoon or radiofrequency current (RFC) catheter ablation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in the randomized FIRE AND ICE trial. METHODS AND
resultsA trial period analysis of healthcare costs evaluated the impact of ablation modality (cryoballoon versus RFC) on differences in resource use and associated payer costs. Analyses were based on repeat interventions, rehospitalizations, and cardioversions during the trial, with unit costs based on 3 national healthcare systems (Germany [€], the United Kingdom [£], and the United States [$]). Total payer costs were calculated by applying standard unit costs to hospital stays, using
conclusionsWhen compared with RFC ablation, cryoballoon ablation was associated with a reduction in resource use and payer costs. In all 3 national healthcare systems analyzed, this reduction resulted in substantial trial period cost savings, primarily attributable to fewer repeat ablations and a reduction in cardiovascular rehospitalizations with cryoballoon ablation. CLINICAL
trial registrationURL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Identifier: NCT01490814.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.