Introduction
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most common arrhythmias in adults.1 As a degenerative disease, AF is expected to be a growing health burden with the changing demographics and increased life expectancy across the globe.2-4 Due to the irregular ventricular rate and cardiac thrombus, in addition to increasing risk of stroke, AF has a profound and comprehensive influence on multiple organs, such as leading to decrements in cardiac function, cognitive function and renal function.5-8 Moreover, symptomatic AF reduces patient quality of life.
Due to the limited effectiveness of antiarrhythmic drugs, catheter ablation (CA) has been considered to be a promising solution to restore sinus rhythm, reduce the AF burden and even extend survival.9-17 Successful sinus rhythm restoration through CA has been known to be associated with reduced heart failure death and improved cognitive function, quality of life and renal function.12,18-20 Takahashi et al. reported improvements in renal function with successful CA after a more than 1-year follow-up.19 Wang et al. reported improvements in renal function after repeated CA in patients with long-standing AF.21 Park et al. reported better renal function in patients who maintained sinus rhythm after more than 5 years of follow-up.22 A number of predictors for worsening renal function have been identified, including the CHA2DS2-VASc score, pre-existing diabetes mellitus and AF recurrence. However, few studies have focused on changes in renal function in AF patients with arrhythmia recurrence.
The objective of this study was to investigate the changes in the estimated glomerular filtration (eGFR) in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients with recurrence after radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA).