Clinical Summary

Autoimmune Diseases May Increase the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation

Vinod Rane, BS Pharm | Disclosures

Takeaway

Various autoimmune diseases targeting different organs were associated with an increased risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF), especially in women.

Findings expand on and add to our understanding of the pathophysiological differences in autoimmunity between men and women.

An analysis of 494,072 participants without AF (men, n=223,268; women, n=270,804) identified using data from the UK Biobank.
Funding: Erasmus Medical Centre grant and the Senior Scientist Grant from the Dutch Heart Foundation.

After a median follow-up of 12.8 years, 16,804 (7.5%) men and 10,390 (3.8%) women developed new-onset AF.
The risk of new-onset AF was higher with (adjusted HR [aHR]; 95% CI):
- rheumatic fever without heart involvement (1.47; 1.26 to 1.72);
- Crohn’s disease (1.23; 1.05 to 1.45);
- ulcerative colitis (1.17; 1.05 to 1.31);
- rheumatoid arthritis (1.39; 1.28 to 1.51);
- polyarteritis nodosa (1.79; 1.04 to 3.09);
- systemic lupus erythematosus (1.82; 1.41 to 2.35); and
- systemic sclerosis (2.32; 1.57 to 3.44).
In women, the risk of new-onset AF was higher with (aHR; 95% CI):
- rheumatic fever without heart involvement (1.79; 1.45 to 2.20);
- Crohn’s disease (1.35; 1.05 to 1.73);
- musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders (1.51; 1.38 to 1.66);
- rheumatoid arthritis (1.50; 1.35 to 1.67);
- psoriatic and enteropathic arthropathies (2.01; 1.32 to 3.05);
- systemic lupus erythematosus (1.79; 1.34 to 2.40);
- systemic sclerosis (2.51; 1.64 to 3.85); and
- ankylosing spondylitis (1.53; 1.13 to 2.07).

Some of the autoimmune diseases of interest were low in prevalence because of the rarity of diseases.