• Yael Baumfeld, Victor Novack, and Yaniv Almog.
• Clinical Research Center Soroka University Medical Center and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
• Harefuah. 2013 Sep 1;152(9):520-3, 564.

BackgroundThere is scarcity of data on atrial fibrillation (AF) prevalence and outcomes in critically ill patients admitted to the non-cardiac Intensive Care Unit (ICU).AimThe purpose of our study was to prospectively assess the incidence, risk factors and prognosis of new onset atrial fibrillation in a medical non-cardiac ICU population.MethodsA prospective single center observational study was conducted in an 8-bed adult Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU). The patients at the MICU were continuously monitored throughout their stay, once an irregularly irregular rhythm was recorded, a confirmative 12-leads ECG was performed and the incidence, duration of the atrial fibrillation and clinical signs of the patient were logged into the computerized patient file.ResultsA total of 209 patients were included in the study; 23 of these patients developed AF during the hospital stay. Out of the 209 patients, 26% died during the period of hospitalization. There were a few significant differences between the AF group and the non-AF group including age (67 vs. 49, p < 0.001), proportion of Arab Bedouins (4% vs. 28%, p = 0.01), prevalence of coronary heart disease (39% vs. 10%, p < 0.001), paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (52% vs. 3%, p < 0.001), hypertension (70% vs. 31%, p < 0.001 and dyslipidemia 166% vs. 24%, p < 0.001). The APACHE II scores were similar in both groups. In the AF group, there were more patients with sepsis at admission compared with the non-AF group. Age, length of stay, paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) and dyslipidemia were independent factors for the AF development. AF occurrence adjusted for APACHE-II score was not a significant predictor of death during hospitalization (OR = 1.55, p = 0.38).ConclusionsThe development of AF is more prevalent in patients with PAF. Development of AF was not found to be an independent mortality risk factor.

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