Freeman JV, Tabada GH, Reynolds K, et al. - Among adults (n = 1,070) who were treated for atrial fibrillation (AF) between 2010 and 2014 in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California and Southern California healthcare delivery systems, researchers performed a comparison of adverse consequences for AF ablation vs chronic antiarrhythmic therapy. They matched those treated by AF catheter ablation to those managed with only antiarrhythmic medications, depending on age, gender, history of heart failure, history of coronary heart disease, history of hypertension, history of diabetes, and high-dimensional propensity score. Findings revealed no significant link of AF ablation with death, intracranial hemorrhage, ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack, or heart failure hospitalization in this contemporary, multicenter, propensity-matched observational cohort. However, a higher rate of all cause-hospitalization was reported in relation to AF ablation in this cohort.