Abstract
The current investigation aimed to evaluate long-term survival in patients undergoing isolated and combined coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with concomitant surgical ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). Procedural data from KROK (Polish National Registry of Cardiac Surgery Procedures) were retrospectively collected. Eleven thousand three hundred sixteen patients with baseline AF (72.4% men, mean age 69.6 ± 7.9) undergoing isolated and combined CABG surgery between 2006-2019 in 37 reference centers across Poland and included in the registry were analyzed. The median follow-up was four years (3.7 IQR 1.3-6.8). Over a 12-year study period, there was a significant survival benefit (Hazard Ratio (HR) 0.83; (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.73-0.95); p = 0.005) with concomitant ablation as compared to no concomitant ablation. After rigorous propensity matching (LOGIT model, 432 pairs), concomitant surgical ablation was associated with over 25% improved survival in the overall analysis: HR 0.74; (95% CIs: 0.56-0.98); p = 0.036. The benefit of concomitant ablation was maintained in the subgroups, yet the most benefit was appraised in low-risk patients (EuroSCORE < 2, p = 0.003) with the three-vessel disease (p < 0.001) and without other comorbidities. Ablation was further associated with significantly improved survival in patients undergoing CABG with mitral valve surgery (HR 0.62; (95% CIs: 0.52-0.74); p < 0.001) and in patients in whom complete revascularization was not achieved: HR 0.43; (95% CIs: 0.24-0.79); p = 0.006.