ArticleJournal of cardiovascular electrophysiology2022
Cost-effectiveness of catheter ablation versus medical therapy for the treatment of atrial fibrillation in the United Kingdom.
Article in Journal of cardiovascular electrophysiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Economic Evaluations in Electrophysiology in the Last 15 Years: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Cost Effectiveness of Catheter Ablation Versus Antiarrhythmic Drugs for Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.American journal of cardiovascular drugs : drugs, devices, and other interventions · 2025Pooled it
- Cost Effectiveness of Strategies to Manage Atrial Fibrillation in Middle- and High-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.PharmacoEconomics · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Article
- 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
- A Cost Analysis of Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation: A Canadian Pre-Post Study.CJC open · 2024Article
- Improvements in Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test Results in Atrial Fibrillation Patients After Radiofrequency Ablation in Kazakhstan.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- A danish healthcare-focused economic evaluation of first-line cryoballoon ablation versus antiarrhythmic drug therapy for the treatment of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2024Article
- An Economic Evaluation of a Streamlined Day-Case Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Protocol and Conventional Cryoballoon Ablation versus Antiarrhythmic Drugs in a UK Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation Population.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2024Article
- Radiofrequency ablation using the ThermoCool SmartTouch Catheter guided by ablation index versus antiarrhythmic drugs in atrial fibrillation treatment in China: a cost-consequence analysis.Journal of comparative effectiveness research · 2024Article
- Article
- Excess Bed Days and Hospitalization Costs Associated With 30-Day Complications Following Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023Article
- Resource Use Following Atrial Fibrillation Ablation: Spending Resources to Save Resources.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2023Article
- Efficacy of ablation therapy on clinical outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2023Review
- Tic-Tac: A Translational Approach in Mechanisms Associated with Irregular Heartbeat and Sinus Rhythm Restoration in Atrial Fibrillation Patients.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Review
- Early rhythm control for atrial fibrillation: looking cost-effective, at least from one direction.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 · 2023Article
- Cost-effectiveness of rhythm control strategy: Ablation versus antiarrhythmic drugs for treating atrial fibrillation in Korea based on real-world data.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2023Article
- Rate or Rhythm Control in CRT (RHYTHMIC): Study rationale and protocol.Heart rhythm O2 · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionResearch evidence has shown that catheter ablation is a safe and superior treatment for atrial fibrillation (AF) compared to medical therapy, but real-world practice has been slow to adopt an early interventional approach. This study aims to determine the cost effectiveness of catheter ablation compared to medical therapy from the perspective of the United Kingdom.
methodsA patient-level Markov health-state transition model was used to conduct a cost-utility analysis. The population included patients previously treated for AF with medical therapy, including those with heart failure (HF), simulated over a lifetime horizon. Data sources included published literature on utilization and cardiovascular event rates in real world patients, a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials for AF recurrence, and publicly available government data/reports on costs.
resultsCatheter ablation resulted in a favorable incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of £8614 per additional quality adjusted life years (QALY) gained when compared to medical therapy. More patients in the medical therapy group failed rhythm control at any point compared to catheter ablation (72% vs. 24%) and at a faster rate (median time to treatment failure: 3.8 vs. 10 years). Additionally, catheter ablation was estimated to be more cost-effective in patients with AF and HF (ICER = £6438) and remained cost-effective over all tested time horizons (10, 15, and 20 years), with the ICER ranging from £9047-£15 737 per QALY gained.
conclusionCatheter ablation is a cost-effective treatment for atrial fibrillation, compared to medical therapy, from the perspective of the UK National Health Service.
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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.