Publication: Association between comorbidities and left and right atrial dysfunction in patients with self-terminating atrial fibrillation: Data from AF-RISK

Atrial fibrillation is a diseases that progresses. Its progression is mainly determined by structural atrial remodelling processes, called atrial cardiomyopathy. Functional impairment of atrial deformation properties represents an important component of the progressive atrial remodelling.

Atrial deformation measured by echocardiography can provide an earlier signal of atrial remodelling, and, therefore, progression of atrial fibrillation.

In a collaboration with colleagues from Maastricht University, Manouk J.W. van Mourik and Vicente Artola Arita under the supervision of prof. dr. Isabelle Van Gelder and prof. dr. Michiel Rienstra assessed the association between comorbidities and left atrial  and right atrial  function in patients with self-terminating atrial fibrillation. The analysis was performed in  “The identification of a risk profile to guide atrial fibrillation therapy (AF-RISK)” study

Strain decreased proportionally to the number of comorbidities, predominantly in reservoir and conduit phases of both atria.

Highlights:

•Individual and combined comorbidities in self-terminating atrial fibrillation patients are associated with impaired strain of both atria, irrespective of atrial volumes.
•In elf-terminating atrial fibrillation patients patients with few comorbidities, impairment in atrial function progresses during one year of follow-up.
•Patients with elf-terminating atrial fibrillation patients patients with 3 or more comorbidities had less or no further progressive impairment atrium function.

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