Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39791402›Full record

SynthesisJournal of the American Heart Association2025

Representation of Women in Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Randomized Controlled Trials: Systematic Review.

Eh Khaing, Ahmad Aroudaky, Danielle Dircks, Muaaz Almerstani, Nmair Alziadin, Samuel Frankel, Benjamin Hollenberg, Pattarawan Limsiri, William Schleifer, Arthur Easley and 9 more

Abstract readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of the American Heart Association, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Diversity, equity, and inclusion in arrhythmia care: a European Heart Rhythm Association survey.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 · 2026
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  3. Review
  4. Observational
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Eh KhaingUniversity of Nebraska Omaha Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0009-0009-7271-2182
Ahmad AroudakyDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3644-8336
Danielle DircksCollege of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0009-0003-2056-7020
Muaaz AlmerstaniDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.
Nmair AlziadinHospital Corporation of America Healthcare/Tufts University School of Medicine: Portsmouth Regional Hospital Internal Medicine Residency Program Portsmouth NH USA.ORCID 0009-0004-1531-5352
Samuel FrankelCollege of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0009-0009-6080-1057
Benjamin HollenbergWashington State University Pullman WA USA.
Pattarawan LimsiriDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University Bangkok Thailand.ORCID 0000-0002-1156-4130
William SchleiferDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.
Arthur EasleyDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.
Shane TsaiDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.
Daniel AndersonDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6041-0077
John WindleDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7654-3798
Faris KhanDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.
Gleb HaynatzkiDepartment of Biostatistics University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4794-2148
Thoetchai PeeraphatditDepartment of Gastroenterology University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.
Neha GoyalDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.
Christina L Dunbar MatosDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0009-0002-3242-4636
Niyada NaksukDivision of Cardiovascular Medicine University of Nebraska Medical Center Omaha NE USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6269-6053

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSex inequality in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to cardiovascular disease has been observed. This study examined the proportion of women enrolled in atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation RCTs and the potential risks of underrepresentation of women. METHODS AND

resultsWe systematically searched PubMed and Embase for AF ablation RCTs published from 2015 to 2022. Participant characteristics were compared among trials with higher and lower proportions of women. Of 147 AF ablation RCTs (30,055 participants), only 10 trials had enrolled women ≥50% of the total participants. Additionally, 42 trials (28.57%) excluded pregnant/breastfeeding women; 6 (4.1%) excluded reproductive-age women without reliable birth control. The proportion of women in AF RCTs ranged from 9% to 71% (median 31.5%), whereas the median proportion of men was 67.7%. The rate of women included in the trials was stable from 2015 to 2022 (

conclusionWomen were underrepresented in contemporary AF ablation RCTs. Additionally, women enrolled in AF RCTs were likely to have more comorbidities but less advanced AF, limiting the applicability of the results to women with AF.

Indexed as

Atrial FibrillationCatheter AblationPatient SelectionRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicFemaleHumansMaleSex Factorsatrial fibrillationendocardial catheter ablationrandomized controlled trialwomen representation

Identifiers

PMID39791402
PMCPMC12054437

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.