Cor Vasa 2012, 54(11-12):e421-e427 | DOI: 10.1016/j.crvasa.2012.11.003

Quality of life and costs of conventional therapy in patients treated by catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation

Veronika Bulková^a,b,*, Martin Fiala^c, Dan Wichterle^a, Luděk Haman^d, Jan Chovančík^c, Štěpán Havránek^a, Jiří Duda^d, Jakub Pindor^c, Miroslav Novák^b, Petr Pařízek^d

^a II. interní klinika kardiologie a angiologie, 1. lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy a Všeobecná fakultní nemocnice, Praha, Česká republika

^b International Clinical Research Center - I. interní kardioangiologická klinika, Lékařská fakulta Masarykovy univerzity a Fakultní nemocnice u sv. Anny v Brně, Brno, Česká republika

^c Oddělení kardiologie, Kardiocentrum, Nemocnice Podlesí, a. s., Třinec, Česká republika

^d I. interní kardioangiologická klinika, Lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy v Hradci Králové a Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Česká republika

Aims: The purpose of the study was to assess quality of life, socioeconomic parameters, and costs of conventional therapy in patients treated by catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF).

Methods: The study included 160 patients treated by catheter ablation for AF who fulfilled a minimum of 2-year follow-up. Quality of life using EQ-5D questionnaire, and days of hospitalization and working incapacity were evaluated before ablation and every 6 months after ablation. Further, one-year costs of conventional therapy for AF were assessed before and after ablation.

Results: Quality of life was significantly improved at each post-ablation stage. EQ-5D index increased from baseline 68 ± 14 to 76 ± 17 after 2 years (p < 0.001), and EQ-VAS score from baseline 65 ± 17 to 71 ± 15 after 2 years (p = 0.01). Significant reduction was further observed in the count of hospitalization days and days of working incapacity (both p < 0.01). The cost of conventional therapy per patient per year decreased from 49,337 Czech crowns (1974 €) before ablation to 16,504 CZC (660 €) and 13,576 CZC (543 €) in the first and second post-ablation year, respectively.

Conclusion: AF ablation was associated with significant improvement in quality of life, and decrease in days of hospitalization and working incapacity. There was more than three-fold reduction in the costs of conventional therapy observed in the first two years after ablation.

Keywords: Atrial fibrillation; Catheter ablation; Conventional therapy; Costs of therapy; Quality of life

Received: September 25, 2012; Revised: November 6, 2012; Accepted: November 7, 2012; Published: November 1, 2012  Show citation