In brief , female atrial fibrillation patients more commonly present comorbidities , leading to a higher prevalence of persistent atrial fibrillation ; moreover , they refer to hospital care later and with a longer disease history .
Atrial fibrillation symptoms relate to low quality of life in female patients ; in fact , atrial fibrillation paroxysm usually presents higher heart rate , leading to preferentially adopt a rate rather than a rhythm-control strategy .
Female atrial fibrillation patients present an increased risk of stroke , worsened by the lower  oral anticoagulant prescription rate related to the concomitant higher haemorrhagic risk profile .
Trans-catheter ablation is under-used in female patients and , on the contrary , they are more commonly affected by anti-arrhythmic drug side effects
Atrial fibrillation is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia .
Its prevalence increases with age and preferentially affects male patients .
Over 75 years of age , however , female patients being more prevalent , the absolute number of patients affected is similar between sexes .
Despite this , few data are available in the literature concerning sex-related differences in atrial fibrillation patients .
The present systematic review therefore considers comorbidities , referring symptoms , quality of life , pharmacological approaches  and  trans-catheter ablation  in female rather than in male atrial fibrillation patients in search of parameters that may have an impact on the treatment outcome .
Efficacy and safety of catheter ablation for long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation in women.
OBJECTIVES It is uncertain whether gender affects the outcomes of catheter ablation ( CA ) for atrial fibrillation ( AF ) . The objective of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CA for long-st and ing persistent AF in women . METHODS Between January 2010 and May 2011 , 220 consecutive patients ( 73 females , 33.2 % ) , with long-st and ing persistent AF who underwent CA were prospect ively recruited . Gender-related differences in clinical presentation , periprocedural complications , and outcomes were compared . RESULTS Women were less likely to have lone AF than men ( 27.4 % vs 47.6 % ; P = 0.004 ) . The incidence of rheumatic heart disease was higher in women ( 19.2 % in women vs 1.4 % in men ; P < 0.001 ) . Women had a lower initial ablation success rate than men ( 35.6 % vs 57.1 % ; P = 0.003 ) . Hematomas occurred more often in women ( 6.8 % in women vs 0.7 % in men ; P = 0.027 ) . A Cox regression analysis demonstrated total duration of AF ( per month , hazard ratio [ HR ] 1.003 , confidence interval [ CI ] 1.001 - 1.006 ; P = 0.006 ) and gender ( HR 1.663 , CI 1.114 - 2.485 ; P = 0.013 ) as the independent predictors for recurrence after the first CA . CONCLUSIONS Women and long AF duration were closely related to the recurrence of AF after the first ablation in patients with long-st and ing persistent AF . Women also had a higher risk of vascular complications
In brief , female atrial fibrillation patients more commonly present comorbidities , leading to a higher prevalence of persistent atrial fibrillation ; moreover , they refer to hospital care later and with a longer disease history .
Atrial fibrillation symptoms relate to low quality of life in female patients ; in fact , atrial fibrillation paroxysm usually presents higher heart rate , leading to preferentially adopt a rate rather than a rhythm-control strategy .
Female atrial fibrillation patients present an increased risk of stroke , worsened by the lower  oral anticoagulant prescription rate related to the concomitant higher haemorrhagic risk profile .
Trans-catheter ablation is under-used in female patients and , on the contrary , they are more commonly affected by anti-arrhythmic drug side effects
Atrial fibrillation is the most common supraventricular arrhythmia .
Its prevalence increases with age and preferentially affects male patients .
Over 75 years of age , however , female patients being more prevalent , the absolute number of patients affected is similar between sexes .
Despite this , few data are available in the literature concerning sex-related differences in atrial fibrillation patients .
The present systematic review therefore considers comorbidities , referring symptoms , quality of life , pharmacological approaches  and  trans-catheter ablation  in female rather than in male atrial fibrillation patients in search of parameters that may have an impact on the treatment outcome .