Evidence mapPaperPMID 41843238Full record

SynthesisJournal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing2026

Comparing GLP-1 agonists versus other weight loss interventions on risk of atrial fibrillation recurrence after catheter ablation: a meta-analysis.

Hoi-Ying Li, Gregory Y H Lip, Tsz-Kwan Chan, Kai-Hang Yiu, Hung-Fat Tse, Claire A Martin, Yap-Hang Chan

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisComparative StudyReview
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Hoi-Ying LiDepartment of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Office K1927C, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Gregory Y H LipLiverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science at University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Liverpool, UK.
Tsz-Kwan ChanDepartment of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Office K1927C, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Kai-Hang YiuDepartment of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Office K1927C, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Hung-Fat TseDepartment of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Office K1927C, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China. hftse@hku.hk.
Claire A MartinDepartment of Cardiology, Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
Yap-Hang ChanDepartment of Medicine, School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Office K1927C, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China. chanwill@hku.hk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5384-8468

Funding

Doris Zimmern HKU-Cambridge Hughes Hall Fellowship 2024/25Hong Kong Research Grants Council Clinical Research Fellowship 2024/25Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Fund 17108523Hong Kong Research Grants Council General Research Fund GRF 17110122Li Shu Pui Medical Foundation Fellowship 2022Seed Funding for Basic Research and Start-Up Funding, The University of Hong Kong 104006735
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundObesity often co-exists with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and poses challenges to ablation success. Whether glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists have a role and how they compare to other weight loss interventions in preventing AF recurrence after catheter ablation remains unclear.

methodsWe performed meta-analysis and included prior interventional and observational studies that investigated weight loss-related interventions on AF recurrence post-ablation. Included were weight loss interventions that entailed perioperative use of GLP-1 agonists (4 studies), non-pharmacological interventions such as lifestyle/ risk factors modifications (8 studies), and bariatric surgery (1 study). Primary outcome was recurrence of clinical AF or a requirement for further rhythm control post-ablation.

resultsTwo randomized-control trials and 11 cohorts were included (n = 5,415). Overall, weight loss interventions were associated with significant reduction in AF recurrence post-ablation (RR = 0.63 [95% CI: 0.46—0.87]). Bariatric surgery was associated with reduced risk of AF recurrence (RR = 0.31 [0.13 to 0.75]), while GLP-1 agonists and lifestyle /risk factors modifications showed trends towards protection with borderline statistical significance (RR = 0.64 [95% CI 0.36 to 1.14]). However, only 1 study investigated bariatric surgery which should be interpreted with caution. Importantly, meta-regression showed that for each 1% absolute decrease in body weight achieved, there was 6.3% relative-risk reduction in AF recurrence (RR = 0.94 [0.90—0.98]), regardless of weight loss intervention subtype. Sustained continuation of weight loss post-ablation was a determining factor of lower recurrence (P = 0.03).

conclusionsPeri-operative weight loss interventions in obesity patients significantly reduced AF recurrence post-ablation, in a dose–response manner and irrespective of choice of intervention strategy. Sustained continuation of weight loss post-ablation is a key determinant of success.

Indexed as

Atrial FibrillationCatheter AblationGlucagon-Like Peptide 1ObesityBariatric SurgeryComorbidityFemaleHumansMaleRecurrenceRisk FactorsSecondary PreventionTreatment OutcomeWeight LossGlucagon-Like Peptide 1Atrial fibrillationCatheter ablationGLP-1 agonistMeta-analysisObesityWeight reduction

Identifiers

PMID41843238
PMCPMC13221330

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.