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Risk of incident atrial fibrillation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Ungprasert Patompong,
Srivali Narat,
Kittanamongkolchai Wonngarm
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of rheumatic diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.795
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1756-185X
pISSN - 1756-1841
DOI - 10.1111/1756-185x.12820
Subject(s) - medicine , meta analysis , hazard ratio , rheumatoid arthritis , confidence interval , atrial fibrillation , relative risk , incidence (geometry) , study heterogeneity , cohort study , rate ratio , standardized mortality ratio , physics , optics
Aims Patients with rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) might be at an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation ( AF ) as a result of deleterious effects of inflammatory cytokines on cardiomyocytes. This study aimed to comprehensively review all available evidence to further characterize this possible association. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis of cohort studies that reported relative risk, hazard ratio, incidence ratio or standardized incidence ratio with 95% confidence intervals comparing the risk of incidence of AF in patients with RA versus non‐ RA participants. Pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated using random‐effect, generic inverse‐variance methods of DerSimonian and Laird. Results Three retrospective cohort studies with 39 912 cases of RA and 4 269 161 non‐ RA controls were included in the data analysis. The pooled risk ratio of subsequent development of AF in patients with RA versus controls was 1.29 (95% CI , 1.05–1.59). The statistical heterogeneity was moderate with an I 2 of 71%. Conclusion Our meta‐analysis demonstrated a statistically significant increased risk of subsequent development of AF among patients with RA .