Thoracic aortic aneurysm and atrial fibrillation: clinical associations with the risk of stroke from a global federated health network analysis



Proietti, Riccardo ORCID: 0000-0003-4113-7030, Rivera-Caravaca, Jose Miguel ORCID: 0000-0003-0492-6241, Harrison, Stephanie Lucy ORCID: 0000-0002-8846-0946, Buckley, Benjamin James Roy ORCID: 0000-0002-1479-8872, Lopez-Galvez, Raquel, Marin, Francisco, Fairbairn, Timothy, Madine, Jillian ORCID: 0000-0001-9963-5871, Akhtar, Riaz, Underhill, Paula
et al (show 2 more authors) (2023) Thoracic aortic aneurysm and atrial fibrillation: clinical associations with the risk of stroke from a global federated health network analysis. INTERNAL AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE, 18 (2). pp. 423-428.

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Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>An association with aortic aneurysm has been reported among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of thoracic aorta aneurysm (TAA) among patients with AF and to assess whether the co-presence of TAA is associated with a higher risk of adverse clinical outcomes.<h4>Methods and results</h4>Using TriNetX, a global federated health research network of anonymised electronic medical records, all adult patients with AF, were categorised into two groups based on the presence of AF and TAA or AF alone. Between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2019, 874,212 people aged ≥ 18 years with AF were identified. Of these 17,806 (2.04%) had a TAA. After propensity score matching (PSM), 17,805 patients were included in each of the two cohorts. During the 3 years of follow-up, 3079 (17.3%) AF patients with TAA and 2772 (15.6%) patients with AF alone, developed an ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). The risk of ischemic stroke/TIA was significantly higher in patients with AF and TAA (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.04-1.15; log-rank p value < 0.001) The risk of major bleeding was higher in patients with AF and TAA (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01-1.14), but not significant in time-dependent analysis (HR 1.04, 95% CI 0.98-1.10; log-rank p value = 0.187), CONCLUSION: This retrospective analysis reports a clinical concomitance of the two medical conditions, and shows in a PSM analysis an increased risk of ischemic events in patients affected by TAA and AF compared to AF alone.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Atrial fibrillation, Thoracic aortic aneurysm, Stroke, Risk factors
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 20 Jan 2023 10:33
Last Modified: 17 Mar 2023 03:32
DOI: 10.1007/s11739-022-03184-6
Open Access URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11739-0...
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3167189