09 Mar Atrial Fibrillation Diagnosed At Earlier Age in Patients With Family History of AFib

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Anna Gundlund

Anna Gundlund, MB
Gentofte Hospital, Kildegårdsvej
Hellerup, Denmark

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Atrial fibrillation seems to accumulate in families and several studies have indicated that a family history of atrial fibrillation may be an important risk factor for developing atrial fibrillation. In addition, three genomic regions associated with atrial fibrillation have been identified in Genome Wide Association Studies. In this study we compared atrial fibrillation patients with or without a family history of atrial fibrillation.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response: We found that patients with a family history are diagnosed with atrial fibrillation at a younger age and with more disabling symptoms than those without a family history of atrial fibrillation. When looking at the longitudinal course of the disease, we found no differences in risk of progression of atrial fibrillation (e.g. from paroxysmal to persistent), risk of thromboembolic complications, all-cause hospitalization, or all-cause death when comparing those with a family history of atrial fibrillation with those without a family history.

MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Response: In general, atrial fibrillation is diagnosed earlier in patients with a family history of the arrhythmia. Therefore, questions about atrial fibrillation in the family may be helpful in the diagnostics of younger patients with complains of symptoms that may indicate atrial fibrillation.

Also, our study found atrial fibrillation patients with a family history to have the same risk of complications as those without a family history and therefore it seems like the two patient groups should receive the same treatment strategy. Yet, more studies are needed.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: Our study had a limited time of follow up (36 month), which is an important limitation when looking at longitudinal outcomes. Therefore, studies with more follow up time are needed 

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

Family History of Atrial Fibrillation is Associated with Earlier-onset and More Symptomatic Atrial Fibrillation: Results From the ORBIT-AF Registry

Gundlund, Anna et al.

American Heart Journal , Volume 0 , Issue 0 ,

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2016.01.020

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Published Online:February 18, 2016

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More Medical Research Interviews on MedicalResearch.com

Anna Gundlund, MB (2016). Atrial Fibrillation Diagnosed At Earlier Age in Patients With Family History of AFib 

Last Updated on March 9, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD