Characteristics of Coronary Artery Disease Among Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Compared to Patients with Sinus Rhythm
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Accepted Manuscript Characteristics of Coronary Artery Disease among Patients with Atrial Fibrillation compared to Patients with Sinus Rhythm Lukas J. Motloch, MD, PhD, Sara Reda, MD, Robert Larbig, MD, Ariane Wolff, MD, Karolina A. Motloch, MD, Bernhard Wernly, MD, Christina Granitz, MD, Michael Lichtenauer, MD, PhD, Martin Wolny, PhD, Uta C. Hoppe, MD PII: S1109-9666(16)30160-9 DOI: 10.1016/j.hjc.2017.03.001 Reference: HJC 145 To appear in: Hellenic Journal of Cardiology Received Date: 22 August 2016 Revised Date: 24 February 2017 Accepted Date: 3 March 2017 Please cite this article as: Motloch LJ, Reda S, Larbig R, Wolff A, Motloch KA, Wernly B, Granitz C, Lichtenauer M, Wolny M, Hoppe UC, Characteristics of Coronary Artery Disease among Patients with Atrial Fibrillation compared to Patients with Sinus Rhythm, Hellenic Journal of Cardiology (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.hjc.2017.03.001. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. 1 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Characteristics of Coronary Artery Disease among Patients with Atrial Fibrillation compared to Patients with Sinus Rhythm Lukas J. Motloch, MD, PhD 1; Sara Reda, MD 1; Robert Larbig, MD 1, 2 ; Ariane Wolff, MD 1; Karolina A. Motloch, MD 1, 3 ; Bernhard Wernly, MD 1; Christina Granitz, MD 1; Michael Lichtenauer, MD, PhD 1; Martin Wolny, PhD 1; Uta C. Hoppe, MD 1 1Department of Internal Medicine II, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria 2Division of Electrophysiology, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, Germany 3Department of Ophthalmology, SALK/University Clinic, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria MANUSCRIPT Brief title: Coronary artery disease in atrial fibrillation Correspondence to: Lukas J. Motloch, MD, PhD Department of Internal Medicine II Paracelsus MedicalACCEPTED University Salzburg Muellner Hauptstr. 48 A-5020 Salzburg, Austria Phone: +43 (0)662 4482-58870, Fax: +43 (0)662 4482-4111 E-Mail: [email protected] 2 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Abstract Background: With a high prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), CAD is one of the main risk factors for AF. However, little is known about the characteristics of CAD in AF patients. Especially, the question, whether a specific anatomical distribution of coronary artery stenoses might predispose to AF via atrial ischemia remains speculative. To address this issue, we evaluated potential associations between angiographic characteristics of CAD and AF. Methods: In a single-center retrospective analysis 796 consecutive patients with confirmed CAD and AF (CAD-AF), and 785 patients with CAD and sinus rhythm (CAD-SR) were enrolled. Clinical characteristics and angiographic findings were compared between both groups in stable CAD and during acute myocardial infarction (MI). Results: In CAD-AF, mitral valve disease and chronic heart failure were significantly more common than in CAD-SR. Clinical condition in CAD-AF was significantly more severe, as indicated by NYHA/WHO functional class. Left MANUSCRIPTventricular ejection fraction was reduced in CAD-AF, reflecting the marked fraction of patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. No association between anatomical characteristics of CAD and AF was found. However, CAD- AF seemed to be associated with a higher degree of severity of CAD (p=0.06). Additionally, CAD-AF with MI showed a significantly higher number of diseased coronary vessels. Conclusion: The anatomical distribution of coronary artery stenoses does not contribute to AF in CAD patients. However, AF is linked to a higher degree of severity of CAD which might predisposeACCEPTED to AF by driving ischemic heart disease and changes in left ventricular function. Keywords: coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, myocardial infarction, coronary artery stenoses 3 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Introduction Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia and associated with a high risk of stroke, heart failure and hospitalization [1, 2]. AF is related to a variety of cardiovascular and other conditions, which have additive effects on the perpetuation of AF by promoting a substrate that maintains AF. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is present in over 20% of the AF population [3]. In contrast to the high prevalence of CAD in AF stands a relatively low prevalence of AF in the total population with CAD. In the Coronary Artery Surgical Study (CASS) AF was present in only 0.6% of patients with angiographically documented CAD, though the prevalence of intermittent AF was presumably somewhat higher [4]. Furthermore, AF occurs transiently in 6 to 10 percent of patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI). These patients are known to have worse prognosis which is mostly due to comorbidities such as heart failure. Since patients with severe CAD are very likely to have a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, heart failure is thought to be a cause of AF in patients with MI. However, also in this populationMANUSCRIPT besides atrial stretching secondary to heart failure, atrial ischemia is suggested to drive AF [5-7]. Nevertheless, whether CAD per se predisposes to AF via atrial ischemia and how AF interacts with coronary artery perfusion are uncertain [8, 9]. Indeed, one might speculate, that coronary macroangiophathy drives atrial ischemia and therefore, triggers atrial arrhythmias. The sinus nodal artery arises from the proximal right coronary artery in about 60% of patients and from the proximal left circumflex artery in 40% of patients and supplies most of the right atrium. The left atrial circumflexACCEPTED artery arises from the proximal left circumflex artery and supplies most of the left atrium [10]. Consequently, in patients with CAD and AF, angiographic localizations of coronary artery lesions might correspond to the coronary arteries supplying the atria. However, in this population, the characteristics of coronary artery stenoses have not been systematically assessed, yet. Therefore, whether specific anatomical distributions of coronary 4 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT artery stenoses might promote AF remains speculative. To address this issue, we compared the angiographic characteristics of coronary artery lesions between CAD patients with AF and CAD patients with sinus rhythm. Methods Study participants A flow diagram outlining the total number of patient records screened and how the final numbers of patients who were included in the trial were obtained is presented in figure 1. To study a population who was investigated by similar clinical standards, all patients included in this study were admitted to the same university hospital due to acute MI, PCI or diagnostic coronary angiography in the same period of time between December 1999 and September 2008. The study cohort comprised of all eligible 796 consecutive patients with confirmed diagnosis of AF and stable CAD or acute MI (CAD-AF). To compare this group to a similar MANUSCRIPT number of patients who were studied in the same period of time, 785 patients were randomly chosen from the cohort of all eligible 3680 consecutive patients with confirmed sinus rhythm and stable CAD or MI (CAD-SR) using the PASW statistics 18 software (SPSS, Chicago, USA; Figure 1). Furthermore, in both study groups, a subgroup analysis in the subpopulation with acute MI (MI-AF vs. MI-SR) was performed. In all eligible patients, retrospectively classification of AF into one of the three groups (first diagnosed, paroxysmal, persistent/permanent) [9], and information about the clinical severity (NYHA/WHO functionalACCEPTED class), medication, concomitant diseases were obtained from the University Patient Database. Furthermore, results of coronary angiography evaluations were analyzed in all patients. Inclusion criteria were the presence of at least coronary one vessel disease on the coronary angiogram. Patients´ data was only analyzed if a complete data set including conclusive coronary angiogram of all three coronary vessels, information about the clinical severity (NYHA/WHO functional class), medication and concomitant diseases could 5 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT be obtained from the university database. Exclusion criteria were the history of a different supraventricular rhythm disorders than AF including sick sinus syndrome, atrial flutter, atrioventricular tachycardia and unclassified atrial tachycardia. If during the study period, more than one coronary angiogram was performed in one patient, only data from the first coronary evaluation was included. [Figure 1 near here] Definition of AF AF was defined as the presence of AF on an electrocardiogram during the index hospitalization and/or as indicated by a diagnosis found in medical records, the hospitalization database, or outpatient databases. Electrocardiographic AF was defined as the presence of an irregular rhythm with fibrillatory waves and no defined P-waves. Diagnoses and classification of AF were based on physician-assigned diagnoses in the medical records and/or the presence of corresponding ICD-9-CM codes for AF (427.31)MANUSCRIPT in the hospital discharge or outpatient databases [1]. AF was sub-classified