Statistical Analysis
The continuous variables are presented as the mean ± standard deviation
together with the 95% confidence intervals. Categorical variables were
expressed as numbers and percentages. The significance of any
differences between the two groups was analyzed with an unpairedt -test and Mann-Whitney U test for continuous variables, and with
a Fisher’s exact probability test for categorical variables. A
predictive analysis of AF recurrence during the follow-up period was
assessed using multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models. A
multivariate analysis with multivariate Cox proportional hazard
regression models was performed to isolate the independent criteria of
AF recurrence after ablation. Only the variables with significant
P-values in the univariate analysis were included in the multivariate
Cox proportional hazard regression. A Kaplan-Meier event-free survival
analysis was conducted to assess the cumulative freedom from AF
recurrence. A value of P<0.05 was considered statistically
significant.