Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26139311›Full record

ArticleJournal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing2015

The natural history of atrial fibrillation in patients with permanent pacemakers: is atrial fibrillation a progressive disease?

R A Veasey, C Sugihara, K Sandhu, G Dhillon, N Freemantle, S S Furniss, A N Sulke

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Guideline
  3. Pooled it
  4. 2017 HRS/EHRA/ECAS/APHRS/SOLAECE expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation.Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2018
    Guideline
  5. 2012 HRS/EHRA/ECAS expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation: recommendations for patient selection, procedural techniques, patient management and follow-up, definitions, endpoints, and research trial design: a report of the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) Task Force on Catheter and Surgical Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation. Developed in partnership with the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society (ECAS); and in collaboration with the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Heart Association (AHA), the Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS), and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). Endorsed by the governing bodies of the American College of Cardiology Foundation, the American Heart Association, the European Cardiac Arrhythmia Society, the European Heart Rhythm Association, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society, and the Heart Rhythm Society.Heart rhythm · 2012
    Guideline
  6. IiScience · 2022
    Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

R A VeaseyDepartment of Cardiology, East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, Eastbourne, UK. raveasey@doctors.org.uk.
C SugiharaDepartment of Cardiology, East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, Eastbourne, UK.
K SandhuDepartment of Cardiology, East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, Eastbourne, UK.
G DhillonDepartment of Cardiology, East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, Eastbourne, UK.
N FreemantleDepartment of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
S S FurnissDepartment of Cardiology, East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, Eastbourne, UK.
A N SulkeDepartment of Cardiology, East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, Eastbourne, UK.
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust · GBUniversity College London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesAtrial fibrillation (AF) is thought to be a progressive arrhythmia, starting with short paroxysmal episodes, until eventually, it becomes permanent. Evidence for this is limited to studies with short follow-up or with minimal cardiac rhythm monitoring. We utilised the continuous rhythm monitoring capabilities of implanted pacemakers to define better the natural history of AF.

methodsThe study included 356 patients with pacemaker devices capable of continuous atrial rhythm monitoring (186 male, mean age (± SD) 79.5 ± 8.9 years). All clinical records, including history/physical examination reports, laboratory results, ECGs and Holter monitoring data were reviewed. Patients were included if AF episodes >30 s were documented. Permanent pacemaker diagnostic data were reviewed at least every 12 months. ACC/AHA/ESC guidelines were used to define AF episodes as paroxysmal, persistent or long-standing persistent/permanent.

resultsStudy follow-up period (± SD) was 7.2 ± 3.1 years. Over the study period, 179 of 356 patients (50.3 %) had at least one episode of persistent AF. Of the 356 patients, 314 (88.2 %) had paroxysmal AF and 42 (11.8 %) had persistent AF at the time of diagnosis. The predominant AF subtype, at latest follow-up, was paroxysmal for 192 patients (53.9 %), persistent for 77 (21.6 %) and long-standing persistent/permanent for 87 (24.4 %). Univariable predictors of progression to persistent AF were (1) male gender, (2) increasing left atrial diameter (LAD), (3) reduced atrial pacing (AP) and (4) increasing ventricular pacing.

conclusionsAlthough many patients with AF will have persistent episodes, long-term continuous pacemaker follow-up demonstrates that the majority will have a paroxysmal, as opposed to persistent, form of the arrhythmia.

Indexed as

Pacemaker, ArtificialAgedAged, 80 and overAtrial FibrillationComorbidityDisease ProgressionElectrocardiographyFemaleHumansKaplan-Meier EstimateMalePredictive Value of TestsRisk FactorsAtrial fibrillationNatural historyPacemakers

Identifiers

PMID26139311
OpenAlexW2199986476

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.