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Europace Advance Access originally published online on January 4, 2008
Europace 2008 10(1):15-20; doi:10.1093/europace/eum263
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Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2008. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
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ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

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

Lluís Mont1,*, David Tamborero1, Roberto Elosua3, Irma Molina1, Blanca Coll-Vinent2, Marta Sitges1, Bárbara Vidal1, Andrea Scalise1, Alejandro Tejeira1, Antonio Berruezo1, Josep Brugada1 on behalf of the GIRAFA (Grup Integrat de Recerca en Fibril-lació Auricular) Investigators

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

See page 6 for the editorial comment on this article (doi: 10.1093/europace/eum274)

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.


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Related articles in Europace:

Risk predictors for lone atrial fibrillation
Jaspal S. Taggar and Gregory Y.H. Lip
Europace 2008 10: 6-8. [FREE Full Text]  

Corrigendum to ‘Physical activity, height, and left atrial size are independent risk factors for lone atrial fibrillation in middle-aged healthy individuals’
Lluís Mont, David Tamborero, Roberto Elosua, Irma Molina, Blanca Coll-Vinent, Marta Sitges, Bárbara Vidal, Andrea Scalise, Victor Teijeira, Antonio Berruezo, Josep Brugada, and on behalf of the GIRAFA (Grup Integrat de Recerca en Fibril-lació Auricular) Investigators
Europace 2008 10.1093/europace/eun033. [FREE Full Text]  



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