Complications of diagnostic electrophysiologic studies and radiofrequency catheter ablation in patients with tachyarrhythmias: An eight-year survey of 3,966 consecutive procedures in a tertiary referral center

Abstract Predictors and comparisons of complications in patients with electrophysiologic study or radiofrequency ablation have not been assessed in previous published reports. The purpose of this study was to prospectively evaluate the procedure-specific complications and investigate the possible causes and predictors of complications in electrophysiologic study and radiofrequency ablation. Data or diagnostic electrophysiologic studies and radiofrequency ablation were prospective, and represented a consecutive series of 2,593 patients with 3,966 procedures. The present study showed that a significantly higher complication rate occurred in radiofrequency ablation than in electrophysiologic study (3.1% vs 1.1%, respectively, p = 0.00002) and a significantly higher complication rate occurred in elderly than in young patients with electrophysiologic study (2.2% vs 0.5%, p = 0.0002) or radiofrequency ablation (6.1% vs 2.0%, p = 0.00015). Multiple logistic analysis found that older age (p