C-Reactive Protein Elevation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation : The Status of Atrial Fibrillation at Our Institute

[Background and Methods] In this study, we examined the incidence, symptoms, characteristics of laboratory findings, background diseases, the status of treatment and complications of atrial fibrillation in cases that received regular check-up at our institute in 2000. [Results] Among 14117 subjects with a mean age of 46.1 y.o., 49 cases (0.35%) consisting of 46 men and 3 women had atrial fibrillation. No significant differences were found in the body mass index, fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c between cases with sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation. Systolic blood pressure of 123±18 mmHg versus 130±17 mmHg, γ-GTP of 37.2±48.4 IU/l versus 60.0±40.5 IU/l, C-reactive protein (CRP) of 0.09±0.11 mg/dl versus 0.21±0.21 mg/dl, and the incidence of cardiomegaly on chest X-ray at 10% versus 42% were significantly higher in cases with atrial fibrillation. Of the cases, 58.5% were symptom free. Symptoms found were palpitations (26.8%), chest pain (14.6%) and shortness of breath (9.8%). Among cases with atrial fibrillation, 78.0% underwent further examination and 73.2% were already taking medication, including aspirin (35.7%), digoxin (35.7%), warfarin (21.4%), ticlopidine (17.9%) and verapamil (10.7%). Background diseases and complications consisted of hypertension (62.5%), hyperlipidemia (33.3%), valvular heart disease (20.0%), angina pectoris (8.3%), myocardial infarction (8.3%), cerebral infarction (8.3%), hyperuricemia (4.2%), diabetes mellitus (4.2%) and cardiomyopathy (4.2%). One case died of cerebral infarction in spite of ordinary anticoagulant therapy. [Conclusion] CRP elevation in cases with atrial fibrillation (p