Long-term clinical outcomes of catheter ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation predisposing to tachycardia-bradycardia syndrome: a long pause predicts implantation of a permanent pacemaker

Background: There is a controversy as to whether catheter ablation should be the first-line therapy for tachycardiabradycardia syndrome (TBS) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: We aimed to investigate long- term clinical outcomes of catheter ablation in patients with TBS and AF. Among 145 consecutive patients who underwent catheter ablation of AF with TBS, 121 patients were studied. Results: Among 121 patients, 11 (9.1%) received implantation of a permanent pacemaker during a mean 21 months after ablation. Length of pause on termination of AF was significantly greater in patients who received pacemaker implantation after ablation than those who underwent ablation only (7.9 +/- 3.5 vs. 5.1 +/- 2.1 s, p < 0.001). Using a multivariate model, a long pause of 6.3 s or longer after termination of AF was associated with the requirement to implant a permanent pacemaker after ablation (HR 1.332, 95% CI 1.115-1.591, p = 0.002). Conclusion: This study suggests that, in patients with AF predisposing to TBS, long pause on termination of AF predicts the need to implant a permanent pacemaker after catheter ablation.