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Europace Advance Access published online on December 20, 2008
Europace, doi:10.1093/europace/eun342
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Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

REVIEW

Cost-effectiveness of atrial fibrillation catheter ablation

George Andrikopoulos1, Stylianos Tzeis2, Nikos Maniadakis3, Hercules E. Mavrakis4 and Panos E. Vardas4,*

1 First Cardiac Department, Evangelismos Hospital, Athens, Greece; 2 Deutsches Herzzentrum und 1. Medizinische Klinik, Faculty of Medicine, Technischen Universität München, Munich, Germany; 3 Department of Economics, Piraeus University, Piraeus, Greece; 4 Cardiology Department, Heraklion University Hospital, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Radiofrequency catheter ablation has become an established treatment option for the management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Although the concept of a rhythm control strategy devoid of the adverse events related to antiarrhythmic treatment seems highly attractive, further steps are needed in order to improve our understanding of the underlying pathophysiology, refine our ablative techniques, and increase our therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, the increased cost of AF catheter ablation combined with the substantial number of potential candidates also mandates the evaluation of this invasive treatment through a cost-effectiveness prism. In the present review, we recapitulate the existing evidence pertaining to cost-effectiveness of AF catheter ablation as well as the shortcomings, peculiarities, and distinctive aspects of such a cost-to-benefit analysis.

Key Words: Ablation, Atrial fibrillation, Cost-effectiveness

* Corresponding author. Tel: +30 2810 392 706/392 422, Fax: +30 2810 542 055, Email: cardio{at}med.uoc.gr

Manuscript submitted 8 September 2008. Accepted after revision 17 November 2008.


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