The Lead Episode 140: A Discussion of Atrial Cardiomyopathy: Markers and Outcomes

About this episode

This episode discusses the markers and outcomes of atrial cardiomyopathy and their relationship with atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and stroke.

Join Digital Education Committee member and podcast host Melissa E. Middeldorp, MPH, PhD, along with this week's guest contributors, Joshua Silverstein MD, FHRS from Allegheny Health Network and Jonathan Ariyaratnam, BChir, MA, MB, CCDS, CEPS-A from the University of Adelaidefor this week's episode. This study by Vad and colleagues examined markers of atrial cardiomyopathy (AtCM) in 26,467 UK Biobank participants without prior atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure (HF), or stroke, integrating cardiac MRI, ECG, clinical risk factors, and genetic data. AtCM was defined using four markers: left atrial dilation, reduced left atrial emptying fraction ( 120 ms), and abnormal P-wave terminal force and 15.7% of individuals had at least one marker, while 2.3% had two or more. Over a median follow-up of nearly five years, the presence of AtCM markers showed a dose–response relationship with incident AF, with a HR: 4.59 in those with ≥2 markers and was also strongly associated with HF and ischemic stroke. Adding AtCM markers to clinical and genetic risk models improved AF risk prediction, supporting the concept that atrial cardiomyopathy may represent a common substrate linking AF, HF…

People in this episode

Host: Melissa E. Middeldorp, MPH, PhD

Guests: Joshua Silverstein MD, FHRS, Jonathan Ariyaratnam, BChir, MA, MB, CCDS, CEPS-A

Topics covered

• Atrial Cardiomyopathy
• AF risk prediction
• Heart failure
• Stroke
• Cardiac MRI
• ECG

Keywords

• Atrial Cardiomyopathy
• AF
• Heart Failure
• Stroke
• Cardiac MRI
• ECG
• Risk Prediction
• Genetic Data

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Allegheny Health Network, University of Adelaide, UK Biobank

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