Abstract 9983: Thiamine Deficiency is Associated with Longer Length of Stay and Higher Hospitalization Cost in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic thiamine deficiency (TD) can cause changes in the myocardium through cellular hypotrophy, which may lead to arrhythmias. Although animal models have not revealed major electrical remodeling, supraventricular tachyarrhythmias are associated with low thiamine levels. TD is associated with chronic alcohol and loop diuretic use. The prevalence of TD in patients with supraventricular arrhythmias is unknown. We assessed the prevalence of TD among patients hospitalized for atrial fibrillation (AF) using data from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database between 2005 to 2015. Hypothesis: TD is prevalent in individuals with a history of chronic alcohol use and is associated with worse in-hospital outcomes. Methods: Using ICD-9 codes, we queried the NIS for discharge encounters involving adults with AF. We compared the differences in baseline characteristics and in-hospital outcomes between those with and without a diagnosis of TD using the Chi-Square test and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test as two-tailed at a 5% level of significance. Results: Of the 38,283,200 discharge encounters, 0.02% had a diagnosis of thiamine deficiency (N = 7,287). TD was common among white males, younger patients, and those with a history of chronic alcohol use. TD did not affect inpatient mortality but was associated with a longer hospital stay and a higher cost of care (Table 1). Conclusions: Among hospitalized patients with AF, TD does not affect in-hospital mortality but is associated with increased length of stay and cost of care. Further investigation is necessary to assess the effect of thiamine supplementation on AF burden and response to rate or rhythm control.