Study of the etiology and associated risk factors in a sample of 300 patients with atrial fibrillation

Purpose. To analyze the etiology and the prevalence of risk factors in pati ents with atrial fibrillation. Patients and methods. Applying an unpaired case controlled study, we examin ed 300 consecutive patients (143 men) with atrial fibrillation and a mean a ge of 66 +/- 8 years. This group is compared with a control group of 700 pa tients (mean age 64 +/- 12 years). Results. In the group with atrial fibrillation the etiology in 32% was arte rial hypertension, in 20% coronary heart disease, in 13% valvular heart dis ease, in 11% heart failure, in 4% hyperthyroidism and in 20% idiopathic. 50 % presented hypertension, 29% tobaccoism, 26% left ventricular hypertrophy, 20% consumption of alcohol, 19% hypercholesterolemia and 16% diabetes. Compared with the control group, patients with atrial fibrillation had coro nary heart disease (p < 0.05), VHD (p < 0.01), myocardiopathy (p < 0.05), H I (p < 0.001), left ventricular hypertrophy (p < 0.001), diabetes (p < 0.01 ) and alcohol consumption (p < 0.01) more frequently. In the multivariant a nalysis heart failure (odds ratio 2.1 [1.2-3.3]), the valvular heart diseas e (odds ratio 2.2 [1.4-3.5]), the coronary heart disease (odds ratio 1.8 [1 .2-2.6]), the arterial hypertension (odds ratio 1.7 [1.2-2.3]), the left ve ntricular hypertrophy (odds ratio 2.6 [1.7-3.8]), the diabetes (odds ratio 1.9 [1.2-2.91) and alcoholic habits (odds ratio 2 [1.3-3.9]) were independe nt risk factors for atrial fibrillation in our population. Conclusions. Atrial fibrillation in our study, is more frequent in patients with arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease or valvular heart disea se. There are other risk factors such as arterial hypertension, diabetes an d consumption of alcohol too, the modification of which could diminish the risk of the appearance of atrial fibrillation.