Regional Differences in the Outcomes of Catheter Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation in the United States
There is insufficient data assessing the regional differences in catheter ablation outcomes for atrial fibrillation (AF) in the United States. We examined such variations by analyzing procedural complications and in-hospital outcomes among patients undergoing AF ablation utilizing the National Inpatient Sample (NIS), a collaborative effort between federal, state, and industry stakeholders sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), captures hospital data from over 7 million discharges annually, representing approximately 20% of nonfederal hospital discharges across all 50 states (1).