Population portrait of the atrial fibrillation by the ESSE-RF study.

The incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) is steadily increasing in the modern world as a result of population ageing, increase of morbidity and prevalence of risk factors. It is useful to know the incidence of concomitant diseases in order to develop preventive measures for this arrhythmia. The comorbidity of patients with AF in the clinic is studied comprehensively, while the population data are rare. Objective. To assess the incidence of diseases and features of biological parameters in persons with atrial fibrillation in the Russian population of working age. Materials and methods. Participants of the ESSE-RF epidemiological study were examined — 17 693 individuals, including 116 patients with AF, of whom 38.4% were men aged 25—64 years. The presence of AF was established on the basis of electrocardiography data using Minnesota Code 8.3. The incidence of cardiovascular diseases, general and abdominal obesity, diabetes mellitus, chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, chronic kidney disease, thyroid disorders was analyzed. From biological factors we studied lipid profile, content of thyroid-stimulating hormone, creatinine, uric acid, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I, brain natriuretic peptide, as well as heart rate (HR) >80 b/min and blood pressure (BP) level >140/90 mm Hg. The analyzed parameters were compared in groups with and without AF. Results. The highest prevalence of arterial hypertension, obesity, ischemic heart disease, elevated values of BP, HR and uric acid has been noted in subjects with AF. There were no statistically significant differences in comparison of parameters prevalence for bronchopulmonary and endocrine diseases, kidney diseases, lipid profile and thyroid-stimulating hormone level in persons with and without AF. Conclusion. Such diseases as arterial hypertension, acute cerebrovascular accident, myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease, other cardiac diseases, diabetes mellitus, general and abdominal obesity were more common in the population of patients with atrial fibrillation than in persons without this pathology. In addition, such biological parameters as heart rate, blood pressure level, content of creatinine, uric acid, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, brain natriuretic peptide, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I, triglycerides were higher, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level was lover.