Skip Navigation



Europace Advance Access published online on January 4, 2008
Europace, doi:10.1093/europace/eum263
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrowOA All Versions of this Article:
10/1/15    most recent
eum263v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mont, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mont, L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal, Learned Society and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions©oxfordjournals.org.

Physical activity, height, and left atrial size are independent risk factors for lone atrial fibrillation in middle-aged healthy individuals

Lluis Mont1,*, David Tamborero1, Roberto Elosua3, Irma Molina1, Blanca Coll-Vinent2, Marta Sitges1, Barbara Vidal1, Andrea Scalise1, Alejandro Tejeira1, Antonio Berruezo1, Josep Brugada on behalf of the ‘Grup Integrat de Recerca en Fibril·lació Auricular’ (GIRAFA)1

1 Thorax Institute, Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), C/Villarroel 170, Barcelona, 08036 Catalonia, Spain; 2 Emergency Department, Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; 3 Lipids Unit, Institut Municipal Investigacions Mèdiques (IMIM), Autonomous University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Aims: The aetiology of atrial fibrillation (AF) remains unknown in some patients. The aim of the study was to identify new risk factors for developing lone AF (LAF).

Methods and results: A series of 107 consecutive patients younger than 65, seen in the emergency room for an episode of LAF of <48 h duration were included in the study. A group of 107 healthy volunteers matched for age and sex were recruited as controls. All subjects answered a validated questionnaire concerning leisure and occupational activities performed throughout their lifetimes to estimate accumulated hours of physical effort, classified in four levels of intensity. Demographic and echocardiographic measurements were also recorded. There were 69% of males and mean age was 48 ± 11 years. AF was paroxysmal in 57% and persistent in the remaining 43%. Patients with AF performed more hours of both moderate and heavy intensity physical activity. They also were taller, and had a larger left atria, ventricle, and body surface area. At the multivariable analysis, only moderate and heavy physical activity, height, and anteroposterior atrial diameter were independently associated with LAF.

Conclusions: Accumulated lifetime physical activity, height, and left atrial size are risk factors for LAF in healthy middle-aged individuals.

Key Words: Lone atrial fibrillation, Exercise, Endurance sports, Physical activity, Atrial volume

* Corresponding author. Tel: +34 932275551; fax: +34 934513045. E-mail address: lmont{at}clinic.ub.es

Manuscript submitted 13 September 2007. Accepted after revision 11 November 2007.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 EuropaceHome page
B. A. Schoonderwoerd, M. D. Smit, L. Pen, and I. C. Van Gelder
New risk factors for atrial fibrillation: causes of 'not-so-lone atrial fibrillation'
Europace, June 1, 2008; 10(6): 668 - 673.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.