Comparison of the Extent of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients with versus without Interatrial Block and Implications for New-Onset Atrial Fibrillation

Abstract Interatrial block (IAB) represents delay or block of conduction between the atria. IAB has been shown to predict the development or recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in various clinical scenarios. Few studies have examined the correlation between coronary artery disease and the prevalence of IAB and its impact on AF. The aim of this study was to determine if specific coronary artery lesions (location and number) are associated with the presence of IAB and development of new-onset AF. Retrospective analysis of patients presenting with NSTEMI to our institution. Data were recorded for clinical, echocardiographic, angiographic, electrocardiographic and outcome variables. Semiautomatic calipers and scanned ECGs at 300 DPI maximized x 8 were used to measure P-wave duration. Follow-up for a minimum of one year. Chi-square tests and independent samples t-tests, which were done using IBM SPSS. A total of 322 patients were included in the analysis. Men 72.3%, mean age 65.4 ± 11.9 years, mean ejection fraction of 55.2 ± 12.7% and mean left atrial diameter of 38.7 ± 6mm. The prevalence of partial IAB was 31.9%, and advanced IAB was 6.5%. Patients with IAB were significantly older (