Page 38 - ADD-ON ABLATION SURGERY IN PATIENTS WITH ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

Chapter 2
data, previous medical and cardiac history was found between groups, except for baseline Ejection Fraction (Table 1). Further specification of the primary procedures and rhythm outcome are listed in Table 1.
Adverse events and mortality
During the postoperative in-hospital period the number of rethoracotomies, pulmonary complications, stroke, myocardial infarction, renal failure and infection rate showed no significant differences between either patient groups. During total follow-up the number of adverse events remained equally distributed between both groups.The overall in and out of hospital mortality rate was 5.3% (N=7); five patients in the control group versus two patients in the add-on surgery group. The mean total follow-up in days was 351.9 ± 146.7 (p= .64).
Health-related quality of life measurements
The response rate for the questionnaires was similar for both groups at each time-point during follow-up.
RAND SF-36 1.0 questionnaire
Means, standard deviations and p-values of the RAND SF-36 during total follow- up are presented inTable 2.There was an overall improvement in HrQoL for the total group of patients; ie., there were no significantly deteriorating scales during total follow-up. In ANCOVA ‘physical functioning’ showed no statistical difference between either groups (Table 2, p= .143), even if controlled for age and baseline measurements (beta=0.11, p= .157). A positive effect in beta indicates a higher increase in HrQoL for the add-on surgery group; a negative sign indicates a higher increase for the control group. Regarding ‘Physical limitations’ and ‘ General health’ there were no differences between study groups (respectively p= .295, beta=0.04, p= .602 and p= .458). ‘Physical pain’ in 1-year follow-up improved (p< .001) and there appeared to be a difference in this respect between groups (p=. 032), but it was not found in the linear difference (p= .134).This effect was also found in ‘ Role limitations due to emotional problems’ (p< .001, linear p= .157) and ‘ Mental Health’ (p= .300). Both the 1-year follow-up for ‘Vitality’ and ‘Social functioning’ scales showed no difference (respectively p=. 246 and p= .410).
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