Bridging the gender gap in atrial fibrillation

Serum uric acid: creatinine ratio (UCR) is associated with recurrence of atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation

Background and aims

Studies showed that elevated preoperative serum uric acid(SUA) levels are associated with recurrence of atrial fibrillation(AF) after catheter ablation. UA:creatinine ratio(UCR - UA normalised for renal function) has appeared as a new biomarker and is considered to reflect endogenous UA levels preferably because it eliminates the influence of renal function. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between UCR and recurrence of AF after catheter ablation.

Methods and results

A total of 233 consecutive patients with symptomatic, drug-refractory AF underwent catheter ablation. All participants underwent history-taking, physical examination and blood biochemistry analysis at baseline. After a mean follow-up of 23.99 ± 0.76 months, recurrence ratios for each UCR quartile (from lowest quartile to highest) were 10.9%, 23.6%, 23.6%, and 41.8%, respectively (P = 0.005). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that UCR was an independent predictor of AF recurrence (HR 1.217, 95%CI 1.008-1.468; P = 0.041). Subgroup analysis showed that UCR was associated with AF recurrence in paroxysmal AF (HR 1.426, 95% CI 1.092-1.8608; P = 0.009) and in male patients (HR 1.407, 95% CI 1.015-1.950; P = 0.04). A cut-off point of 4.475 for the UCR had sensitivity of 65.5% and specificity of 59.6% in predicting AF recurrence (P = 0.001).

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate that elevated preoperative UCR is associated with recurrence of AF after catheter ablation, and it indicate UCR maybe a predictive factor for the recurrence of AF.

Racial, ethnic, and sex disparities in atrial fibrillation management: rate and rhythm control

BACKGROUND

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects around 6 million Americans. AF management involves pharmacologic therapy and/or interventional procedures to control rate and rhythm, as well as anticoagulation for stroke prevention. Different populations may respond differently to distinct management strategies. This review will describe disparities in rate and rhythm control and their impact on outcomes among women and historically underrepresented racial and/or ethnic groups.

METHODS

This is a narrative review exploring the topic of sex and racial and/or ethnic disparities in rate and rhythm management of AF. We describe basic terminology, summarize AF epidemiology, discuss diversity in clinical research, and review landmark clinical trials.

RESULTS

Despite having higher rates of traditional AF risk factors, Black and Hispanic adults have lower risk of AF than non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients, although those with AF experience more severe symptoms and report lower quality-of-life scores than NHW patients with AF. NHW patients receive antiarrhythmic drugs, cardioversions, and invasive therapies more frequently than Black and Hispanic patients. Women have lower rates of AF than men, but experience more severe symptoms, heart failure, stroke, and death after AF diagnosis. Women and people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds are inadequately represented in AF trials; prevalence findings may be a result of underdetection.

CONCLUSION

Race, ethnicity, and gender are social determinants of health that may impact the prevalence, evolution, and management of AF. This impact reflects differences in biology as well as disparities in treatment and representation in clinical trials.

Sex-related risks of recurrence of atrial fibrillation after ablation: Insights from the Guangzhou Atrial Fibrillation Ablation Registry

BACKGROUND

Female sex has been linked with worse prognosis in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Clinical risk stratification of women with AF may help decision-making before catheter ablation (CA).

AIM

To evaluate arrhythmia outcomes and the predictive value of clinical scores for arrhythmia recurrence in a large cohort of Chinese patients with AF undergoing CA.

METHODS

A total 1410 of patients (68.1% men) who underwent AF ablation with scheduled follow-up were analysed retrospectively. Baseline characteristics and ablation outcome were compared between men and women. The predictive values of risk scoring systems for AF recurrence were assessed in women.

RESULTS

Recurrence, early recurrence and complications after CA were similar in women and men over similar follow-up periods (20.7±8.0 vs 20.7±9.1 months; P>0.05). Compared with men, women with AF recurrence were older and had a larger left atrial diameter (LAD), less paroxysmal AF, lower left ventricular ejection fraction, lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and higher serum concentrations of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (all P<0.01). Multivariable analysis showed that age, non-paroxysmal AF, body mass index, coronary artery disease, LAD, early recurrence, eGFR, BNP and CRP were independent risk factors with sex differences (all P<0.05) in the whole cohort. In women, only non-paroxysmal AF, early recurrence, BNP, CRP (all P<0.01) and history of stroke/transient ischaemic attack (P=0.016) were independent risk factors. Of the clinical scoring systems tested, MB-LATER, APPLE, CAAP-AF and BASE-AF₂ scores (C-indexes 0.73, 0.72, 0.68 and 0.72, respectively; all P<0.01) had a modest predictive value for AF recurrence after CA in women.

CONCLUSIONS

CA for AF has similar recurrence risks in women and men, but there are sex differences in the clinical characteristics and risk factors associated with AF recurrence.

Determining If Sex Bias Exists in Human Surgical Clinical Research

Importance

Sex is a variable that is poorly controlled for in clinical research.

Objectives

To determine if sex bias exists in human surgical clinical research, to determine if data are reported and analyzed using sex as an independent variable, and to identify specialties in which the greatest and least sex biases exist.

Design, Setting, and Participants

For this bibliometric analysis, data were abstracted from 1303 original peer-reviewed articles published from January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2012, in 5 surgery journals.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Study type, location, number and sex of participants, degree of sex matching of included participants, and inclusion of sex-based reporting, statistical analysis, and discussion of data.

Results

Of 2347 articles reviewed, 1668 (71.1%) included human participants. After excluding 365 articles, 1303 remained: 17 (1.3%) included males only, 41 (3.1%) included females only, 1020 (78.3%) included males and females, and 225 (17.3%) did not document the sex of the participants. Although female participants represent more than 50% (n = 57 688 606) of the total number (115 377 213) included, considerable variability existed with the number of male (46 111 818), female (58 805 665), and unspecified (10 459 730) participants included among the journals, between US domestic and international studies, and between single vs multicenter studies. For articles included in the study, 38.1% (497 of 1303) reported these data by sex, 33.2% (432 of 1303) analyzed these data by sex, and 22.9% (299 of 1303) included a discussion of sex-based results. Sex matching of the included participants in the research overall was poor, with 45.2% (589 of 1303) of the studies matching the inclusion of both sexes by 50%. During analysis of the different surgical specialties, a wide variation in sex-based inclusion, matching, and data reporting existed, with colorectal surgery having the best matching of male and female participants and cardiac surgery having the worst.

Conclusions and Relevance

Sex bias exists in human surgical clinical research. Few studies included men and women equally, less than one-third performed data analysis by sex, and there was wide variation in inclusion and matching of the sexes among the specialties and the journals reviewed. Because clinical research is the foundation for evidence-based medicine, it is imperative that this disparity be addressed so that therapies benefit both sexes.

Epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of atrial fibrillation in women

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and has become a serious public health problem. Moreover, epidemiological data demonstrate that incidence and prevalence of AF are increasing. Several differences in epidemiological patterns, clinical manifestations, and incidence of stroke have been reported between AF in women and in men, particularly in elderly women. Elderly women have higher blood pressure than men and a higher prevalence of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, both independent risk factors for stroke. On the basis of the evidence on the higher stroke risk among AF in women, recently, female sex has been accepted as a risk factor for stroke and adopted to stratify patients, especially if they are not at high risk for stroke. This review focuses on available evidence on sex differences in AF patients, and examines factors contributing to different stroke risk, diagnosis, and prognosis of arrhythmia in women, with the aim to provide an analysis of the available evidence.