A new study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology indicates that individuals with kidney disease have a higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation, or an irregular heartbeat.
Nisha Bansal, MD, MAS from the University of Washington, and her colleagues analyzed the results of three prospective studies: the Jackson Heart Study, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and the Cardiovascular Health Study.
In the analysis of 16,769 community-dwelling individuals without atrial fibrillation, there was a step-wise increase in the risk of incident atrial fibrillation with decreasing kidney function. In patients with the lowest kidney function or the greatest amount of proteinuria, the risk for developing atrial fibrillation was approximately two-fold higher compared with those without kidney disease.
This link held even after accounting for a wide range of possible contributors, including measures of cardiovascular health, and it was consistent across subgroups of participants categorized by age, sex, race, and comorbidity.
“This study found that even modest abnormalities in kidney function were linked with a higher risk of developing atrial fibrillation later in life,” said Bansal. “Atrial fibrillation may affect the selection of cardiovascular therapies and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. Thus, an understanding of the risk of atrial fibrillation across a broad range of kidney function is important.”
Dr. Bansal noted that additional studies are needed to determine the mechanistic link between kidney disease and atrial fibrillation.
Study co-authors include Leila Zelnick, PhD, Alvaro Alonso, MD, Emelia Benjamin, MD, ScM, Ian de Boer, MD, MS Rajat Deo, MD, Ronit Katz, DPhil, Bryan Kestenbaum, MD, MS, Jehu Mathew, MD, Cassianne Robinson-Cohen, PhD, Mark Sarnak, MD, MS, Michael Shlipak, MD, MPH, Nona Sotoodehnia, MD, MPH, Bessie Young, MD, MPH, and Susan Heckbert, MD, PhD.