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.

Background: Three recent randomized controlled trials demonstrated that, in patients with symptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), first-line pulmonary vein isolation with cryoballoon catheter ablation reduces atrial arrhythmia recurrence compared to initial antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of first-line cryoablation compared to first-line AADs from a German healthcare payer perspective.

Methods: Individual patient-level data from 703 participants with untreated PAF enrolled into three randomized clinical trials (Cryo-FIRST, STOP AF First and EARLY-AF) were used to derive parameters for the cost-effectiveness model (CEM).