Urgent Catheter Ablation in Octogenarians with Serious Tachyarrhythmias

Background: Urgent catheter ablation is often required for various tachyarrhythmias; however, its efficacy and safety in elderly patients have not been fully elucidated. Methods: This study included consecutive octogenarians who underwent urgent radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for various serious tachyarrhythmias (urgent group, n=28) that were life-threatening, hemodynamically deleterious, or provoking ischemia, and consecutive octogenarians who underwent elective RFCA (control group, n=36). The rate of a successful RFCA, complications, later arrhythmia recurrences, and mortality were compared between the groups. Results: There was no significant difference in the breakdown of the targeted arrhythmias between the groups, and common-type atrial flutter was most often targeted in both the urgent group (57%) and the elective group (56%). Compared with the control group patients, the patients of the urgent group were older (84±3 vs. 82±2 years P=0.001), with a higher frequency of baseline heart disease (68% vs. 17%, P