Statistical analysis
Continuous variables are expressed as mean±standard deviation or median
with the interquartile range. Categorical variables are reported as
numbers and percentages. Comparisons were made using Fisher’s test,
Student’s t-test, or Mann-Whitney U test. Cox regression analysis was
also used to evaluate each type of recurrence after catheter ablation in
the multivariate models. A p value of 0.10 was required for entry into
the model, and a stepwise method was utilized for the detection of any
predictors. A p value <0.05 was considered significant. All
analyses were performed using the EZR software (Saitama Medical Center,
Jichi Medical University, Saitama, Japan), which is a graphical user
interface of R (The R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna,
Austria).