Abstract 15203: Periprocedural Oral Anticoagulation for Ventricular Tachycardia Ablation and Postprocedural Stroke - Analysis of a Japanese Nationwide Inpatient Database

Introduction: The effectiveness and the safety of periprocedural anticoagulation for ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation remain to be clarified.

Hypothesis: Periprocedural anticoagulation reduces the incidence of ischemic stroke after VT ablation without increasing intracranial hemorrhage.

Methods: Using the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database, we identified patients aged ≥18 years who underwent VT ablation from July 2010 to March 2021. The endpoints were ischemic stroke and intracranial hemorrhage which occurred during the hospitalization of the index VT ablation or led to re-admissions within three months. We performed weighted analyses using inverse probability of treatment based on propensity-score to adjust for confounding factors. We also conducted analyses stratified by antiplatelet use.

Results: We identified 18,894 patients from 750 hospitals who underwent VT ablation (12,918 males [68%], 60.5 ± 15.7 years). Postprocedural ischemic stroke and intracranial hemorrhage were documented in 84 (0.44%) and 15 (0.08%) cases, respectively. Anticoagulants and antiplatelets were administered in 4352 (23.0%) and 5319 (28.2%) patients, respectively. Propensity score-weighted analysis demonstrated no significant association between anticoagulant use and postprocedural ischemic stroke (odds ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.51-1.63; P=0.76). Anticoagulation was also not associated with intracranial hemorrhage (odds ratio, 2.15; 95% CI, 0.65-7.15; P=0.21). In the stratified analysis, anticoagulation was associated with an increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage in patients with antiplatelets (odds ratio, 6.30; 95% CI, 1.26-31.5; P=0.025) but not in those without.

Conclusions: Our analysis of Japanese patients who underwent VT ablation suggests that periprocedural administration of anticoagulants may not result in a reduction of ischemic strokes and that adding anticoagulants to antiplatelet therapy may increase the risk of intracranial hemorrhage. Further studies are warranted to investigate the clinical efficacy of periprocedural anticoagulation strategy after VT ablation.