Increased risk of late pacemaker implantation after ablation for atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia: A 10-year follow-up of a nationwide cohort.

Background: Catheter ablation of the slow pathway is the standard treatment of atrioventricular nodal reentry tachycardia (AVNRT) with a well described low risk of periprocedural atrioventricular block. Less is known about the risk of pacemaker implantation late after ablation.

Objective: We aimed to quantify the risk of late pacemaker implantation in a countrywide cohort undergoing first-time ablation for AVNRT.

Methods: All patients undergoing first-time ablation for AVNRT in Sweden from 2004 to 2014 were identified from the Swedish catheter ablation registry and matched against the Swedish Pacemaker and ICD registry. The cohort was compared to patients ablated for an accessory pathway (AP) and to matched controls.

Results: During follow-up of 2039 days, pacemaker was implanted later than 30 days after ablation in 96 of 6842 patients with AVNRT (1.4%), 29 of 4065 patients with AP (0.7%) (P = .001), and 124 of 33,270 controls (0.4%) (P < .00001). A periprocedural pacemaker (≤30 days postablation) was implanted in 32 of 6877 patients with AVNRT (0.5%) and 9 of 4079 patients with AP (0.2%) (P = .05). With cryoablation, 5 patients needed periprocedural pacemaker implantation. Pacemakers were implanted before ablation in 88 of 6977 patients with AVNRT (1.3%) and 11 of 4100 patients with AP (0.3%); the prevalence of pacemaker implants in controls was 124 of 33,270 (0.4%) (P < .00001 for both comparisons).

Conclusion: The risk of late pacemaker implantation after AVNRT ablation was low but 3 times higher than that in the control population and 3 times higher than the risk of periprocedural pacemaker implantation. Similar results were observed with cryoablation and radiofrequency ablation. Ablation may not be the cause of increased late pacemaker implantation risk.