Atrial fibrillation episode status and incidence of coronary slow flow: A propensity score-matched analysis

Ya-Fang Gao; Yan Chen; Cheng-Jian Wang; Ying Du; Ya-Hui Ding

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2023.1047748

Atrial fibrillation episode status and incidence of coronary slow flow: A propensity score-matched analysis

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023 Mar 20:10:1047748. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1047748. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ya-Fang Gao^{1

2}, Yan Chen³, Cheng-Jian Wang³, Ying Du³, Ya-Hui Ding¹

Affiliations

¹ Heart Center, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital (Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), Hangzhou, China.
² Graduate Department, Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China.
³ The Second Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have shown that patients with a history of atrial fibrillation (AF) have a higher risk of developing coronary slow flow (CSF). However, whether AF episode status affects the incidence of CSF has not been confirmed. This study investigated the correlation between AF episode status and the incidence of CSF.

Methods: We enrolled patients with AF who underwent coronary angiography for symptoms of myocardial ischemia between January 1, 2017, and April 30, 2022, at our institution and classified them according to whether they had an episode of AF in the perioperative period. The outcomes were defined the occurrence of CSF overall and in each of the three coronary arteries. The analysis was repeated after adjusting the baseline information by the propensity score matching method in a 1:1 ratio.

Results: 214 patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the study (AF episode group: 100 patients, AF non-episode group: 114 patients). Before matching, age, left atrial size, ejection fraction, heart rate, CSF incidence, and mean corrected thrombolysis in myocardial infarction frame counts were higher in patients with intraoperative AF episodes than in patients without episodes. To prevent the dependent variable (CSF incidence) from being confounded by confounding factors, we matched the two groups for age, left atrial size, and ejection fraction. In the logistic regression analysis, the incidence of CSF was significantly higher in the intraoperative AF episode group (P = 0.010, OR = 2.327, 95% CI: 1.226-4.416) than in the non-episode group.

Conclusion: In patients with AF, AF episode status is significantly correlated with an increased overall incidence of CSF.

Keywords: atrial fibrillation; cardiac rhythm; coronary slow flow; corrected TIMI frame count; propensity score matching.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. LGF18H020007. The funders had no role in the preparation of the manuscript, or the decision to publish.