Statistical analysis
The normality of continuous data was assessed using the Shapiro–Wilk test. Categorical variables were reported as frequency (%) while continuous variables as mean ± Standard Deviation (SD). The Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used to compare categorical variables, as appropriate. Student’s t test or the Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare continuous variables, as appropriate. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to find the optimal cut-off values for predicting arrhythmia recurrence. Propensity score (PS) matching analysis was performed to reduce the impact of potential confounding factors. PSs were derived to match patients at a 1:1 ratio. Patients were matched according to age, sex, LA diameter, and AF type. Analysis was performed using SPSS software version 23.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and XLSTAT statistical software for excel. The statistical significance was set at a two-tailed P-value of ≤ 0.05.