Pulse Pressure and Risk for Atrial Fibrillation

Pulse pressure greater than 40 mm Hg is associated with increased risk for new-onset atrial fibrillation.

The risk for new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF) is increasing rapidly as the U.S. population ages. Because several risk factors for AF (i.e., left atrial enlargement, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction) are associated with pulsatile arterial load, researchers used Framingham Heart Study data to assess the relation between pulse pressure (PP; the difference between systolic and diastolic pressures) and new AF in 5331 subjects older than 35 (median age, 57).

Participants were assessed in 1979–1983 for numerous clinical and physiologic variables; during a mean follow-up of 16 years, 698 subjects (13.1%) developed AF. The 20-year rate for participants with PP in the lowest quartile (≤40 mm Hg) was 5.6% compared with a rate of 23.3% in those …

Reviewing Author

Thomas L. Schwenk, MD

Pulse Pressure and Risk for Atrial Fibrillation

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Reviewing Author