Background: This report describes the findings of the 2020 Italian Catheter Ablation Registry of the Italian Association of Arrhythmology and Cardiac Pacing (AIAC).
Methods: Data collection was retrospective. A standardized questionnaire was completed by each of the participating centers.
Results: A total of 10 378 ablation procedures were performed by 66 institutions. Most centers (70%) have an electrophysiology laboratory, and 23% a hybrid cardiac surgery laboratory. All centers have a 3D mapping system. The median number of electrophysiologists and nurses involved in the electrophysiology laboratory was 3.5 and 3, respectively. An electrophysiology technician was involved in 35% of all centers. In 88.2% of cases, catheter ablation was performed for supraventricular arrhythmias; the most frequently treated arrhythmia was atrial fibrillation (39.4%), followed by atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (18.6%), and common atrial flutter (10.6%). In 72.9% of patients, catheter ablation was performed using a 3D mapping system, with a "near-zero" fluoroscopic approach in 37.7% of all patients.
Conclusions: The 2020 Italian Catheter Ablation Registry confirmed that the electrophysiology activity was markedly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; atrial fibrillation is the most frequently treated arrhythmia with an increasing number of procedures performed with a 3D mapping system and a "near-zero" approach.