Khan, Ubaid

Abstract Aims Atrial fibrillation (AF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) often coexist, and both increase the risk of thromboembolism and bleeding. We aim to investigate the impact of CKD in patients with AF undergoing left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO). Methods and results We conducted a retrospective analysis using the TriNetX database, from April 2015 to February 2023. Patients aged ≥ 18 years with AF undergoing their first LAAO were included. We performed a comparative analysis of patients with CKD/end-stage renal disease (ESRD) vs. those without. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) (1:1) was employed based on baseline characteristics. The primary outcomes were ischaemic stroke/transient ischaemic attack (TIA)/systemic embolism (SE) and major bleeding over a three-year follow-up. We included 10 689 patients, of whom 4140 had CKD/ESRD, and 6549 had no CKD. PSM resulted in 3085 patients in each cohort. CKD/ESRD was significantly associated with a higher risk of major bleeding [HR: 1.179, 95% CI (1.080, 1.288), P < 0.001], acute myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, acute kidney injury, cardiac-related haemodynamic instability (CRHI), hospitalizations, and all-cause mortality (P < 0.001), with no significant difference in ischaemic stroke/TIA/SE [HR: 1.019, 95% CI (0.909, 1.141), P = 0.750]. Conclusion Our study suggests that CKD/ESRD was significantly associated with a higher risk of major bleeding, acute myocardial infarction, acute heart failure, acute kidney injury, CRHI, hospitalizations, and all-cause mortality, with no significant difference in ischaemic stroke/TIA/SE among patients with AF undergoing LAAO.