ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN COMORBID PATIENTS DEPENDING ON THE TREATMENT REGIMEN

Abstract

Aim. To study the clinical course of atrial fibrillation in patients with arterial hypertension and extracardiac comorbid pathology depending on the administered therapy.Methods. 207 men aged 45–65 years with atrial fibrillation (paroxysmal and persistent) and arterial hypertension in combination with diabetes mellitus (n = 40), abdominal obesity (n = 64) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 47) were recruited to a observational cohort study. 56 patients with atrial fibrillation and arterial hypertension but without any extracardiac diseases were included in the comparison group. Clinical and anthropometric parameters were assessed in all patients. Adherence to therapy was estimated with the Morisky-Green test. All patients underwent ECG; electrocardiographic holter monitoring, 24-hour blood pressure monitoring with the Daily Monitoring Systems SCHILLER (Schiller, Switzerland), 2D and M-mode echocardiography using a Vivid 7 device (General Electric, USA). The statistical analysis was performed in the Rstudio software (version 0.99.879, RStudio, Inc., MA, USA).Results. 66% of patients with atrial fibrillation and arterial hypertension had concomitant extracardiac comorbid pathology, of them 20% of had diabetes mellitus, 22% with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 24% with abdominal obesity. The clinical groups were comparable in electro impulse and drug therapy. Patients who received medical treatment were frequently admitted to hospitals for atrial fibrillation recurrence (p<0.001), compared with those who underwent electro impulse therapy. Adherence to antiarrhythmic therapy was low in the entire cohort of patients. There were no significant differences found between the clinical groups.Conclusion. Early diagnosis of the factors contributing to the progression of AF, the prescription of additional therapy for the secondary prevention of arrhythmia and the choice of its optimal treatment strategy may slow the progression of arrhythmia and the development of CHF, which will improve not only the clinical status of patients, but also their prognosis.