Abstract
Atrial fibrillation (AF) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are common and often co-existing conditions. However, little is known on the prevalence and incidence of AF in patients with CKD stage 4-5.
We prospectively recruited 210 consecutive non-dialysis patients with CKD stage 4-5 between 2013 and 2017. Follow-up data on AF occurrence as well as baseline medical history, laboratory tests and echocardiography were collected.
At baseline, mean age was 62 years, 73/210 (34.8%) of the participants were female, mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was 12.8ml/min and 41/210 (19.5%) patients had a prior diagnosis of AF. After median follow-up of 46 [IQR 27] months, new-onset AF was detected in 33/169 (19.5%) patients (69.9 events/1000 person-years). Overall, 22/33 (66.7%) of patients with new-onset AF were identified with a triggering condition, most commonly severe infection or surgery, and 21/33 (63.6%) were receiving renal replacement therapy (dialysis or acquired kidney transplant) at the time of AF detection, respectively. In Cox proportional hazard model age >60 years (HR 4.27, CI95% 1.57-11.64, p<0.01), elevated troponin T (TnT) >50ng/l (HR 3.61, CI95% 1.55-8.37, p<0.01) and left atrial volume index (LAVI) >30ml/m2 (HR 4.82, CI95% 1.11-21.00, p=0.04) independently predicted the occurrence of new-onset AF. Furthermore, the predictive effect of the covariates was cumulative (Figure 1).
The incidence rate of AF was remarkably high in this prospective study on patients with CKD stage 4-5. Elevated TnT and increased LAVI are associated with the occurrence of new-onset AF in patients with severe CKD.
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