SynthesisJournal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing2022
Impact of catheter ablation versus medical therapy on cognitive function in atrial fibrillation: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Guideline
- 2023 ACC/AHA/ACCP/HRS Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines.Journal of the American College of Cardiology · 2024Guideline
- Catheter ablation and cognitive function in atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Global and Domain-Specific Cognitive Outcomes After Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Brazilian Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines - 2025.Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia · 2025Article
- Cognitive function disparities among atrial fibrillation patients with varying comorbidities.Journal of geriatric cardiology : JGC · 2025Article
- 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of US and Global Data From the American Heart Association.Circulation · 2025Review
- Cardiac structure and inflammation drive memory impairment via dual pathways of heart-brain axis dysregulation in atrial fibrillation patients undergoing catheter ablation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Could the Early Detection of Atrial Fibrillation Reduce the Risk of Developing Dementia?Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Atrial High-Rate Episodes and Subclinical Atrial Fibrillation: State of the Art and Clinical Questions with Complex Solutions.Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2024Review
- Bibliometric Insights Into the Evolution of Atrial Fibrillation and Dementia Research 2002-2022.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2024Article
- 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of US and Global Data From the American Heart Association.Circulation · 2024Review
- Atrial fibrillation: comorbidities, lifestyle, and patient factors.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2024Review
- Risk factors of atrial fibrillation complicated with cognitive impairment and the relationship between cardiac function parameters and the degree of cognitive impairment.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2024Article
- When Atrial Fibrillation Meets Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy: Current Evidence and Strategies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- The neurocognitive effects of atrial fibrillation: benefits of the ABC pathway.European heart journal. Cardiovascular pharmacotherapy · 2023Review
- Ablation of atrial fibrillation and dementia risk reduction during long-term follow-up: a nationwide population-based study.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
- The Impact of Atrial Fibrillation Treatment Strategies on Cognitive Function.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Is catheter ablation associated with preservation of cognitive function? An analysis from the SAGE-AF observational cohort study.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Association between heart and dementia… keep an eye on the left atrium.European heart journal supplements : journal of the European Society of Cardiology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeAtrial fibrillation is associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. It is unclear whether the restoration of sinus rhythm with catheter ablation may modify this risk. We conducted a systematic review of studies comparing cognitive outcomes following catheter ablation with medical therapy (rate and/or rhythm control) in atrial fibrillation.
methodsSearches were performed on the following databases from their inception to 17 October 2021: PubMed, OVID Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library. The inclusion criteria comprised studies comparing catheter ablation against medical therapy (rate and/or rhythm control in conjunction with anticoagulation where appropriate) which included cognitive assessment and/or a diagnosis of dementia as an outcome.
resultsA total of 599 records were screened. Ten studies including 15,886 patients treated with catheter ablation and 42,684 patients treated with medical therapy were included. Studies which compared the impact of catheter ablation versus medical therapy on quantitative assessments of cognitive function yielded conflicting results. In studies, examining new onset dementia during follow-up, catheter ablation was associated with a lower risk of subsequent dementia diagnosis compared to medical therapy (hazard ratio: 0.60 (95% confidence interval 0.42-0.88, p < 0.05)).
conclusionThe accumulating evidence linking atrial fibrillation with cognitive impairment warrants the design of atrial fibrillation treatment strategies aimed at minimising cognitive decline. However, the impact of catheter ablation and atrial fibrillation medical therapy on cognitive decline is currently uncertain. Future studies investigating atrial fibrillation treatment strategies should include cognitive outcomes as important clinical endpoints.
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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.