Left Atrial Volume Is the Strongest Predictor of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Hypertension

概要

論文の詳細を見る
Hypertension is an independent risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF); left atrial enlargement is also associated with AF. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of left atrial volume (LAV), which was measured by multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) (LAV-CT), for predicting AF in patients with hypertension. Thirty patients (age, 66.6±9.3 years) with hypertension were evaluated. The patients were divided into 2 groups: AF group consisted of 14 patients with paroxysmal AF who underwent catheter ablation and non-AF group included 16 control patients without a history of AF. In the AF group, left atrial dimension (LAD) and LAV by using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) (LAV-TTE) were greater than those in the non-AF group (40.5±7.6 mm vs. 34.7±4.6 mm; p=0.016 and 66.9±18.8 ml vs. 49.2±17.7 ml; p=0.031, respectively). LAV-CT was significantly greater in the AF group (134.8±29.9 cc vs. 96.0±16.4 cc, p<0.001). Receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis showed that LAV-CT was highly predictive, with an optimal cut-off value of 111 cc (sensitivity, 79%; specificity, 94%) for AF occurrence (area under the curve [AUC]. 0.902) and superior compared to LAD (AUC, 0.779) and LAV-TTE (AUC, 0.769). In conclusion, these results show that LAV-CT is useful for predicting the occurrence of AF in patients with hypertension.