Impaired quality of life in patients with intermittent atrial fibrillation.

OBJECTIVE: The quality of life (QoL) is impaired in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the data on the perceived QoL of patients with different types of AF is limited. In this study, we investigated the QoL of patients with intermittent and chronic AF. METHODS: The study was designed as an observational cross-sectional study, and 135 consecutive patients with documented AF admitted to the cardiology outpatient clinic in a tertiary hospital were recruited. The pattern of AF was classified as intermittent or chronic AF. The European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) classification and symptom severity score were used to quantify the symptoms related to AF. The QoL was assessed by the Short Form-36 and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Severity in Atrial Fibrillation (SAF) scale. RESULTS: Thirty-nine percent of the patients (n=52) had intermittent AF and 61% (n=83) had chronic AF. In the overall patient population, 92% reported having at least one of the symptoms that can be attributable to AF. Although the prevalence of symptoms were similar in patients with intermittent or chronic AF, the patients with intermittent AF perceived more severe palpitations (symptom severity score 2.4±1.7 vs. 1.5±1.5, p=0.003). Patients with intermittent AF had higher EHRA and SAF scores than the patients with chronic AF (2.6±0.9 vs. 1.9±0.8, p<0.001; 2.5±1.3 vs. 1.7±1.2, p<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: Outpatients with AF have a high prevalence of symptoms and impaired QoL. The impairment of subjective health-related QoL is worse in patients with intermittent AF.

The effects of iodixanol and iopamidol on adhesion molecule serum levels in patients with angina pectoris undergoing coronary angiography: a randomized study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) serum levels between patients with stable (SAP) and unstable angina pectoris (USAP) undergoing coronary angiography (CAG), investigate effects of CAG on ICAM-1, VCAM-1 levels in SAP, USAP patients; probable different effects of non-ionic radiocontrast media (RCM), iso-osmotic iodixanol and low osmolar iopamidol, on these adhesion molecules (AM). METHODS: In this randomized, prospective study, 2 groups consisting of patients with SAP (n=22) and USAP (n=22) undergoing CAG were included. For halves of each group iopamidol, for the other halves iodixanol were used as RCM, in turn for randomization. The patients were divided into 4 subgroups according to clinical presentations and used RCM(SAP-iodixanol, SAP-iopamidol USAP-iodixanol, USAP-iopamidol). ICAM-1, VCAM-1 levels were measured just before and 12 hours after CAG. Repeated measurements were compared with two-way ANOVA test. RESULTS: Baseline VCAM-1 concentration was higher in USAP group than SAP group (p=0.001). ICAM-1, VCAM-1 concentrations increased significantly following CAG in SAP, USAP groups. ICAM-1, VCAM-1 concentration increments; didn't reach statistical significance in SAP-iodixanol subgroup, reached a borderline significance in SAP-iopamidol subgroup (p=0.06). In USAP-iodixanol subgroup; only VCAM-1 (p<0.001), in USAP-iopamidol subgroup; ICAM-1 (p=0.009), VCAM-1 (p=0.006) levels increased significantly following CAG. No complication was observed. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first study indicating ICAM-1, VCAM-1 inducing effect of CAG in patients with SAP, USAP and differential effects of iodixanol and iopamidol on ICAM-1, VCAM-1 serum levels. Further studies are needed to clarify the effects of CAG and different RCM on vascular inflammation, vessel injury, serum AM levels and their clinical significance. This study should be taken as a pilot, hypothesis-generating study.

Prevalence and clinical features of atrial fibrillation in diabetic neuropathy: a cross-sectional, observational study.

OBJECTIVE: This cross-sectional, observational study investigated prevalence and clinical features of atrial fibrillation (AF) in diabetic patient groups with or without autonomic neuropathy. METHODS: One hundred and fourteen consecutive patients with pharmacologically treated type-II diabetes mellitus were enrolled for this study in our institution between January 2010 and December 2010. All patients underwent 12-lead electrocardiography on the day of enrollment for AF detection. All diabetic patients underwent neurologic examination for the presence of diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN). Following clinical evaluation, sympathetic skin responses (SSR) and RR interval variability (RRIV) analysis were used for the detection of autonomic neurologic involvement. Patients were divided into two groups according to presence (Group 1) or absence (Group 2) of DAN. Patient groups with or without DAN were compared for AF occurrence. Continuous and categorical data were compared with independent samples t- test and Chi-square statistical tests respectively. RESULTS: Atrial fibrillation prevalence was 24% (n=29) in study population. Diabetic autonomic neuropathy was diagnosed in 47 (39%) patients. Basal characteristics of patients with or without DAN were comparable except glycosylated hemoglobin A (HbA1c) levels. HbA1c levels were found significantly higher in patients with DAN. Atrial fibrillation was diagnosed in 14 patients in Group 1 and in 15 patients in Group 2. Significantly increased AF prevalence (31.9% vs. 20.8%, p=0.014, in groups with and without DAN respectively) was observed in patient group with diabetic autonomic neuropathy. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated an increased prevalence of AF in patients with diabetic autonomic neuropathy compared with non-neuropathic, diabetic patients. Further investigation of this relation with prospective studies is needed to demonstrate a causal relationship between diabetic autonomic neuropathy and AF.