Catheter ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation was no better than drug therapy in improving key patients’ outcomes, according to the intention-to-treat analysis, a statistical concept essential to the interpretation of randomized clinical trials.
These were some of the findings of the Catheter ABlation vs ANtiarrhythmic Drug Therapy in Atrial Fibrillation (CABANA) trial, sponsored by the NHLBI and industry partners, and reported by the principal investigator, Douglas Packer, MD, from the Mayo Clinic, at the annual meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) in Boston.
CABANA was conducted over nearly 10 years with more than 2,200 enrolled patients at 126 sites in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific.