TUESDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Pulse pressure is a risk factor for new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients as they age, according to the results of a study published in the Feb. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Gary F. Mitchell, M.D., of Cardiovascular Engineering, Inc. in Waltham, Mass., and colleagues conducted a community-based study of 5,331 participants in the Framingham Heart Study cohort. Subjects had a median age of 57 years, and 55 percent were female. None of the participants had atrial fibrillation at the start of the study.
Overall, 698 patients (363 men and 335 women) developed atrial fibrillation, with a median time to diagnosis of 12 years from baseline. This gave a cumulative 20-year incidence rate of 5.6 percent for pulse pressure of 40 mm Hg or less and 23.3 percent for pulse pressure of more than 61 mm Hg, representing the cohort's 25th and 75th percentiles, respectively.
As a measure of arterial stiffness, pulse pressure is indirect but easy to assess, the authors note, adding that although arterial stiffness is associated with increasing age, it need not necessarily increase if other cardiovascular risk factors are reduced.
"Given the aging of the population, further research is needed to determine whether interventions aimed at reducing pulse pressure or preventing the increase in pulse pressure with advancing age effectively reduce the incidence of atrial fibrillation," the authors write.
Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
