Shorter minimum p-wave duration is associated with paroxysmal lone atrial fibrillation.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Prolonged P-wave dispersion (PWD) and P-wave duration (PWdur) have been found to be associated with common atrial fibrillation (AF), but the association of P-wave indices with lone atrial fibrillation (LAF) is unclear. METHODS: We enrolled 61 paroxysmal LAF cases and 150 controls without AF. P-wave indices were measured from a 12-lead ECG. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the association between P-wave indices and LAF. RESULTS: PWD was longer in LAF patients (median, IQR; 54.1 [42.9-63.2] ms) than controls (46.0 [38.5-57.7] ms), P=0.03. MinPWdur was shorter in LAF patients (60.5 [50.7-72.6] ms) than controls (66.0 [55.5-76.4] ms), P=0.03. In multivariable models, only the association between shorter minPWdur and LAF remained statistically significant (OR [95% CI] per tertile increment in minPWdur, 0.64 [0.42-0.95], P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Unlike common AF, paroxysmal LAF is independently associated with shorter minPWdur. This finding suggests that both shorter and prolonged PWdur may be associated with increased risk of AF.