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 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.