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  • Left atrial dimension and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with and without atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Arrhythmias and sudden death
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Left atrial dimension and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with and without atrial fibrillation: a systematic review and meta-analysis
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  • Published on: 29 November 2019
    A timely change of focus
    • oscar jolobe, retired geriatrician manchester medical society

    The focus on left atrial dimensions in the risk stratification of patients with atrial fibrillation(AF) and also in those without AF(1), is a timely departure from the prevailing preoccupation with AF-related risk stratification strategies such as the CHA2 DS2-Vasc score which do not include evaluation of left atrial function(2), notwithstanding the hypothesis that the predictive ability of the CHADS2 index to stratify stroke risk may be mechanistically linked to severity of left atrial dysfunction(3). In the latter study left atrial functional index(LAFI) was the parameter utilised to evaluate left atrial function. Regression analysis showed that mean LAFI significantly(p < 0.001) decreased across tertiles of CHADS2(42.8, 37.8, 36.7). After adjustment for age, sex, race, and other parameters , high CHADS2 remained significantly associated with the lowest quartile of LAFI(Odds Ratio 2.34). For every point increase in CHADS2 the LAFI decreased by 4 %. Secondary analyses using CHA2 DS2 Vasc score replicated these results(3). In view of these observations LAFI is a potential modality to risk stratify nonvalvular atrial fibrillation(NVAF) subjects such as those with CHA2DS2 Vasc score of zero , who might otherwise be ineligible for thromboprophylaxis with oral anticoagulants. LAFI could even be utilised to evaluate eligibility for thromboprophylaxis in patients with excessive atrial ectopic activity or short-run atrial tachyarrhythmis, given the fact that each...

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    Conflict of Interest:
    None declared.