AUTHOR=Alves Mariana , Abrantes Ana Mafalda , Portugal Gonçalo , Cruz M. Manuela , Reimão Sofia , Caldeira Daniel , Ferro José M. , Ferreira Joaquim J. 

TITLE=Does Parkinson's Disease Increase the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation? Insights From Electrocardiogram and Risk Scores From a Case-Control Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.633900

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2021.633900

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Background: Previous studies suggested that Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients could have an increased risk of atrial fibrillation. However, data supporting this association is not robust. We aimed to compare the potential risk of atrial fibrillation associated with PD in an age and gender matched case-control study, comparing the p-wave indexes from electrocardiograms and clinical risk scores among groups.
Methods:  Cross-sectional case-control study was performed. All subjects included in the analysis were clinically evaluated and performed a 12-lead electrocardiogram. Two blinded independent raters measured the p-wave duration. Subjects were classified as normal P-wave duration (<120 ms), partial IAB (P-wave duration ≥120 ms, positive in inferior leads) and advanced IAB (p-wave duration ≥120 ms with biphasic morphology in inferior leads). Atrial fibrillation risk scores (CHARGE-AF, HATCH, and HAVOC) were calculated.
Results: From potential 194 participants, 3 were excluded from the control group due to the previous diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. Comparing PD patients (n=97) with controls (n=95), there were not any statistically significant differences regarding mean p-wave duration (121 ms vs. 122 ms, p=0.64) and the proportion of advanced interatrial block (OR 1.4, 95%CI 0.37-5.80, p=0.58). All patients had low or medium risk of developing atrial fibrillation, based on clinical scores. There were not differences between PD patients and controls regarding the mean values of CHARGE-AF, HATCH and HAVOC.
Conclusions: Our results do not support the hypothesis that PD patients have an increased risk of atrial fibrillation, based of p-wave predictors and atrial fibrillation clinical scores.