Coronary artery diseases in Japanese patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation

BackgroundBoth the prevalence of atrial fibrillation and coronary artery disease (CAD) is increasing in aged societies. However, limited data are available regarding the prevalence of CAD and the incidence of coronary events in Japanese patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF).Methods and resultsThe data in this study were derived from Shinken Database 2004-2010, which includes 15,227 new patient visitors to the Cardiovascular Institute between June 2004 and March 2011. In the database, 1835 patients were diagnosed with NVAF (mean age 63 years, mean CHADS2 score 1.1 ± 1.1, and 75% were men). The prevalence of CAD at the initial visit was 118 patients (6.4%). They were older age and had a greater prevalence of men, more history of congestive heart failure and more history of cardiovascular risk factors rather than those without. During the follow-up period of 532 ± 599 days, coronary events (myocardial infarction, unstable angina, and stable angina) occurred in 51 patients (1.9%/year). Multivariate analysis showed that a history of CAD (p < 0.001) and older age (p = 0.024) were independent predictors of the incidence of future coronary events.ConclusionsIn Japanese patients with NVAF, both the presence of CAD and the occurrence of coronary events are not uncommon. History of CAD and older age are strongly associated with the incidence of coronary events.