Thromboembolic risks associated with paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation in Asian patients: a report from the Chinese atrial fibrillation registry

Several studies have reported on atrial fibrillation (AF) outcomes, including thromboembolism in patients with paroxysmal and non-paroxysmal AF; however the findings still remain controversial on whether risks differ between these clinical subtypes and limited data are available in Asian cohorts. We compared the risk of thromboembolism between paroxysmal and persistent AF patients, in a large contemporary Chinese cohort study. A total of 8529 non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients from the Chinese Atrial Fibrillation Registry (CAFR) study were enrolled. The study subjects were divided into two groups: paroxysmal AF (PaAF, defined as AF lasting within 7 days, n = 4642) and persistent AF (PeAF, lasting over 7 days, n = 3887) groups. In non-anticoagulated patients, PeAF group demonstrated a higher risk of stroke, all-cause death, cardiac/ non-cardiac death and composition of stroke/ transient ischemic attack (TIA)/peripheral thromboembolism (PT)/all-cause death, compared to the PaAF group. No significant difference was found in anticoagulated subjects. On multivariate analysis in non-anticoagulated patients, age ≥ 75 years (P = 0.046) and prior stroke/TIA/PT (P = 0.018) but not AF type (P = 0.63) were significantly associated with the risk of stroke/TIA/PT events. Stroke, all-cause death and cardiac/non-cardiac death in Chinese NVAF population was increased in non-anticoagulated PeAF patients compared with PaAF group, but same between anticoagulated PeAF and PaAF patients. After adjustment, AF type was not an independent predictor of thromboembolism in NVAF patients. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-OCH-13003729. Registered 22 October 2013.