Women undergoing catheter ablation for AF have a near threefold greater risk of vascular injury and phrenic nerve damage compared to men, US cardiologists say.

Results from their prospective registry study — the largest of its kind to date — also suggest an elevated risk of bleeding, bradycardia requiring pacemaker and hospitalisation in female versus male patients.

Only their risk of in-hospital death and acute pulmonary vein isolation remained comparable to that of men, the researchers report in Heart.

“Despite continued improvements in AF ablation safety, sex-based discrepancies persist and intraprocedural and periprocedural care needs to be tailored to mitigate this higher risk profile in women,” they wrote.