Outcomes of patients with periprocedural atrial fibrillation undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for chronic total occlusion.

backgroundSuccessful CTO recanalization has been associated with clinical benefit. Outcomes of patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing CTO PCI have not been investigated, yet.

aimsThis study sought to evaluate the association between atrial fibrillation and outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusions (CTO).

methodsConsecutive patients undergoing CTO PCI between January 2005 and December 2013 were divided into patients with and without atrial fibrillation, and propensity-matched models used to adjust for baseline differences between groups. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality at a median follow-up of 3.2 (interquartile range 3.1-4.5) years.

resultsOf 2002 patients undergoing CTO PCI, atrial fibrillation was present in 169 (8.4%) patients. Patients with atrial fibrillation were older, and more frequently had hypertension, left ventricular systolic dysfunction, and chronic kidney disease. Before matching, all-cause mortality was 39.6 and 14.5% in the atrial fibrillation and the sinus rhythm groups (HR 2.92, 95% CI 2.23-3.82, p < 0.001). In the propensity-matched model, atrial fibrillation remained associated with an increased risk of mortality (HR 1.62, 95% CI 1.06-2.47, p = 0.03). In the unmatched patient cohort, all-cause mortality was significantly reduced in patients with procedural success, both in the atrial fibrillation (34.9 versus 55.0%, adjusted HR 0.99, 95% CI 0.97-1.00, p = 0.02) and the sinus rhythm groups (12.8 versus 23.0%, adjusted HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.53-0.92, p = 0.01).

conclusionsAlthough atrial fibrillation is independently associated with mortality after CTO PCI, substantial survival benefit of successful CTO recanalization is observed in both patients with and without atrial fibrillation.