Cardiology Research and Practice

Research Article

Change in Atrial Fibrillation Burden over Time in Patients with Nonpermanent Atrial Fibrillation

Table 1

Baseline characteristics stratified by the presence or absence of atrial fibrillation in Holter-ECG monitoring at the baseline study visit.


Characteristic	No AF burden (n = 29)	AF burden (n = 25)		Overall (n = 54)

Sex (male)	20 (69.0%)	19 (76.0%)	0.6	39 (72.2%)
Age, years	66.3 (9.2)	66.9 (7.0)	0.8	66.5 (8.2)
BMI, kg/m2	28.0 (4.8)	27.5 (5.2)	0.7	27.8 (4.9)
Time in AF per day, h	0 (0)	4.9 (7.1)	0.0006	2.3 (5.5)
Paroxysmal AF, n	29 (100%)	21 (84.0%)	0.04	50 (92.6%)
Medication
Antiarrhythmic agent, n	9 (31.0%)	6 (24.0%)	0.8	15 (27.8%)
Beta-blocker, n	23 (79.3%)	13 (52.0%)	0.045	36 (66.7%)
ACE inhibitor or ARB, n	17 (58.6%)	10 (40.0%)	0.3	27 (50.0%)
Calcium-channel blocker, n	3 (10.3%)	4 (16.0%)	0.7	7 (13%)
Diuretic, n	6 (20.7%)	4 (16.0%)	0.7	10 (18.5%)
History of stroke, n	0 (0%)	7 (28.0%)	0.003	7 (13.0%)
History of CHF, n	3 (10.3%)	3 (12.0%)	0.99	6 (11.1%)
History of hypertension, n	20 (69.0%)	11 (44.0%)	0.1	31 (57.4%)
24h systolic BP, mmHg	121.1 (13)	117.8 (8.4)	0.3	119.5 (11.0)
CRP, mg/l	1.6 (0.8; 3.0)	1.9 (1.0; 3.6)	0.6	1.7 (0.9; 3.2)
BNP, pg/ml	54.7 (24.6; 111.7)	81.6 (42.6; 92.4)	0.4	60.2 (27.7; 94.4)
Left atrial diameter, mm	36.1 (7.0)	37.3 (7.3)	0.6	36.6 (7.1)
End-diastolic left atrial volume, ml	42.6 (13.2)	43.4 (16.9)	0.9	43.0 (14.8)
End-systolic left atrial volume, ml	69.4 (19.1)	66.9 (18.1)	0.7	68.3 (18.5)
Left atrial ejection fraction, %	38.8 (8.4)	36 (11.8)	0.4	37.6 (10.0)
Left atrial stroke volume, ml	26.8 (9.4)	23.6 (9.8)	0.3	25.3 (9.6)
Deceleration time, ms	228.4 (65.2)	221 (73.6)	0.7	225 (68.5)

Data are median (interquartile range), mean (standard deviation), or counts (percentage) as appropriate. values are based on Fisher`s exact test, two independent samples t-test, or Wilcoxon as appropriate. AF = atrial fibrillation, ACE = angiotensin converting enzyme, ARB = angiotensin receptor blocker, BMI = body mass index, BNP = brain natriuretic peptide, BP = blood pressure, CHF = congestive heart failure, and CRP = C-reactive protein.