Thyrotoxic Atrial Fibrillation: Factors Associated with Persistence and Risk of Ischemic Stroke
Table 1
Comparison of clinical characteristics of patients with spontaneous reversal of atrial fibrillation to sinus rhythm versus patients with persistent atrial fibrillation.
Spontaneous reversal
Persistent atrial fibrillation
value
89
44
Age (years)
64 (15)
63 (16)
0.893
Sex (female)
55 (61.8%)
20 (45.5%)
0.074
History of smoking
39 (42.3%)
29 (65.9%)
0.019
BMI (kg/m2)
22.1 (3.7)
22.1 (3.9)
0.938
Systolic BP (mmHg)
148 (26)
144 (24)
0.374
Diastolic BP (mmHg)
82 (18)
80 (16)
0.659
Heart rate on 1st ECG (bpm)
132 (32)
128 (27)
0.521
DM
14 (15.7%)
9 (20.5%)
0.498
HT
31 (34.8%)
17 (38.6%)
0.667
IHD
7 (7.9%)
1 (2.3%)
0.270
Median months (IQR) of follow-up
40 (19–71)
48 (26–87)
0.006
Etiology of thyrotoxicosis
(i) Graves’ disease
43 (48.3%)
27 (61.4%)
0.347
(ii) Multinodular goitre
37 (41.6%)
13 (29.5%)
(iii) Others/indeterminate
9 (10.1%)
4 (9.1%)
fT4 (xULN)
2.33 (1.03)
1.93 (0.86)
0.033
fT4 (pmol/l)
(i) Before 6/2010
49.0 (19.4) ()
40.8 (15.0) ()
0.064
(ii) After 6/2010
42.5 (19.0) ()
36.2 (17.6) ()
0.233
Positive anti-TPO antibody
37 (54.4%) ()
19 (65.5) ()
0.311
Positive anti-Tg antibody
25 (36.2%) ()
15 (51.7%) ()
0.154
Heart failure
37 (41.6%)
26 (59.1%)
0.057
Dilated cardiomyopathy
3 (3.4%)
5 (11.4%)
0.115
Having a past episode of thyrotoxicosis
21 (23.6%)
18 (40.9%)
0.039
Median time to achieve euthyroidism (months, IQR)
2 (1–3)
2 (1–3)
0.512
Radioactive iodine as treatment for thyrotoxicosis
35 (39.3%)
21 (47.7%)
0.356
Beta blockers
54 (60.7%)
23 (52.3%)
0.356
ACEI/ARB
18 (20.2%)
16 (36.4%)
0.045
Digitalis
18 (20.2%)
19 (43.2%)
0.005
Aspirin
31 (34.8%)
18 (40.9%)
0.494
Warfarin
6 (6.7%)
6 (13.6%)
0.192
Incident ischaemic stroke
9 (10.1%)
7 (15.9%)
0.506
Note. bpm: beats per minute; BMI: body mass index; BP: blood pressure; DM: diabetes mellitus; IHD: ischemic heart disease; ULN: upper limit of normal; ACEI: angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor; ARB: angiotensin II receptor blocker. Values are expressed as (%) or mean (SD) unless otherwise specified; .
