Atrial arrhythmias other than atrial fibrillation in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy patients

Abstract

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most frequent arrhythmia in patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM); however, we have little information about other atrial arrhythmias in this group of patients. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and comorbid associations of isolated atrial ectopy, atrial pairs, short atrial runs, and atrial flutter in patients with HCM. Material and methods: We developed an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective, and statistical correlation study of Spanish and Argentine patients with HCM in whom anamnesis, physical examination, electrocardiogram, transthoracic Doppler echocardiogram,
and 24-hour Holter study were performed. Results: We included 116 patients, mean age 48 years, 56% male. The prevalence of Isolated Atrial Ectopy was 78%, Atrial Pairs 45%, Short Atrial Runs 39%, Atrial Flutter 3%, and patients with High Density of Atrial Arrhythmias (HDAA) 54%. Comparatively, there was a higher prevalence of smoking and dyslipidemia in men, and of hypertension and obesity in women. We observed a statistically significant correlation between high density of atrial arrhythmias with risk factors such as smoking (p = 0.002) and obesity (p = 0.04). Conclusions: In patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, atrial arrhythmias other than Atrial Fibrillation showed a high prevalence. Smoking and obesity were the cardiovascular risk factors statistically associated with High Density of atrial arrhythmias in the study population.