Title | Carotid Intima-Media Thickness and Arterial Stiffness and the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), and the Rotterdam Study. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2016 |
Authors | Chen LYee, Leening MJG, Norby FL, Roetker NS, Hofman A, Franco OH, Pan W, Polak JF, Witteman JCM, Kronmal RA, Folsom AR, Nazarian S, Stricker BH, Heckbert SR |
Secondary Authors | Alonso A |
Journal | J Am Heart Assoc |
Volume | 5 |
Issue | 5 |
Date Published | 2016 05 20 |
ISSN | 2047-9980 |
Keywords | Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aorta, Atrial Fibrillation, Carotid Artery Diseases, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness, Cohort Studies, Female, Humans, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Netherlands, Plaque, Atherosclerotic, Proportional Hazards Models, Pulse Wave Analysis, Ultrasonography, United States, Vascular Stiffness |
Abstract | BACKGROUND: We evaluated the association of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), carotid plaque, carotid distensibility coefficient (DC), and aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) with incident atrial fibrillation (AF) and their role in improving AF risk prediction beyond the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE)-AF risk score. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed data from 3 population-based cohort studies: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study (n=13 907); Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA; n=6640), and the Rotterdam Study (RS; n=5220). We evaluated the association of arterial indices with incident AF and computed the C-statistic, category-based net reclassification improvement (NRI), and relative integrated discrimination improvement (IDI) of incorporating arterial indices into the CHARGE-AF risk score (age, race, height weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, antihypertensive medication use, smoking, diabetes, previous myocardial infarction, and previous heart failure). Higher cIMT (meta-analyzed hazard ratio [95% CI] per 1-SD increment, 1.12 [1.08-1.16]) and presence of carotid plaque (1.30 [1.19-1.42]) were associated with higher AF incidence after adjustment for CHARGE-AF risk-score variables. Lower DC and higher PWV were associated with higher AF incidence only after adjustment for the CHARGE-AF risk-score variables excepting height, weight, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Addition of cIMT or carotid plaque marginally improved CHARGE-AF score prediction as assessed by the relative IDI (estimates, 0.025-0.051), but not when assessed with the C-statistic and NRI. CONCLUSIONS: Higher cIMT, presence of carotid plaque, and greater arterial stiffness are associated with higher AF incidence, indicating that atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness play a role in AF etiopathogenesis. However, arterial indices only modestly improve AF risk prediction. |
DOI | 10.1161/JAHA.115.002907 |
Alternate Journal | J Am Heart Assoc |
PubMed ID | 27207996 |
PubMed Central ID | PMC4889172 |
Grant List | HHSN268201100008C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201100007C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201100011C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States 16EIA26410001 / AHA / American Heart Association-American Stroke Association / United States R01 HL102214 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States UL1 RR025005 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201100012C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201100005C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201100009C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201100006C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States R21 AG042660 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States RC1 HL099452 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States HHSN268201100010C / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States UL1 RR024156 / RR / NCRR NIH HHS / United States |