Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation Still Confers Excess Mortality Risk

Framingham Heart Study (FHS) data published in 1998 showed that newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF) was associated with excess mortality risk. To determine whether improvements in AF treatment have affected this association, researchers analyzed data from three time-period cohorts of FHS participants who did not have AF at baseline: 1972–1985, 1986–2000, and 2001–2015.

AF was newly diagnosed in 305 of 5671 participants (5.4%) during the earliest time period, 596 of 6177 participants (9.6%) in the middle period, and 468 of 6174 participants (7.6%) during the latest time period. Adjusted hazard ratios for the association between newly diagnosed AF and all-cause mortality did not differ significantly across the three periods. People newly …