24 May Normalizing Testosterone With Replacement Therapy Reduced Atrial Fibrillation Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Barua
Rajat S. Barua, MD; PhD; FACC; FSCAI
Associate Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), University of Kansas School of Medicine
Director, Cardiovascular Research, Dept. of Cardiology, Kansas City VA Medical Center
Director, Interventional Cardiology & Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory
Kansas City VA Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia worldwide, with significant morbidity, mortality and financial burden. Atrial fibrillation is known to increase with age and is higher in men than in women. Although the underlying mechanisms of this sex difference are still unclear, one preclinical and several small clinical studies have suggested that testosterone deficiency may play a role in the development of atrial fibrillation. To date, no studies have investigated the effect of testosterone-level normalization on incidence of new atrial fibrillation in men after testosterone replacement therapy.
In this study, we investigated the incidence of atrial fibrillation in hypogonadal men with documented low testosterone levels. We compared the incidence of atrial fibrillation among patients who did not receive any testosterone replacement therapy, those who received testosterone replacement therapy that resulted in normalization of total testosterone, and those who received testosterone replacement therapy but that did not result in normal total testosterone levels.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: This study is the first and the largest to evaluate the association between testosterone replacement therapy and the incidence of Atrial fibrillation. Results from our study show that low total testosterone levels are associated with increased incidence of atrial fibrillation. The largest and significant decrease in the incidence of atrial fibrillation was observed in the group with normalized total testosterone levels following testosterone replacement therapy.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: These novel results suggest that normalization of total testosterone levels after testosterone replacement therapy is associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of atrial fibrillation.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: Future prospective randomized controlled trials are needed to validate these findings.
No disclosures
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Citation:
Rishi Sharma, MD, MHSA; Olurinde A. Oni, MBBS, MPH; Kamal Gupta, MD; Mukut Sharma, PhD; Ram Sharma, PhD; Vikas Singh, MD, MHSA; Deepak Parashara, MD; Surineni Kamalakar, MBBS, MPH; Buddhadeb Dawn, MD; Guoqing Chen, MD, PhD, MPH; John A. Ambrose, MD; Rajat S. Barua, MD, PhD. Normalization of Testosterone Levels After Testosterone Replacement Therapy Is Associated With Decreased Incidence of Atrial Fibrillation. J Am Heart Assoc. 2017;6:e004880. DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.116.004880.)
Online: http://jaha.ahajournals.org/content/6/5/e004880
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Last Updated on May 24, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD