Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Nov 19;8(11):e80853.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080853. eCollection 2013.

Long-term outcome of healthy participants with atrial premature complex: a 15-year follow-up of the NIPPON DATA 90 cohort

Taku Inohara  1 , Shun Kohsaka, Tomonori Okamura, Makoto Watanabe, Yasuyuki Nakamura, Aya Higashiyama, Aya Kadota, Nagako Okuda, Takayoshi Ohkubo, Katsuyuki Miura, Akira Okayama, Hirotsugu Ueshima; NIPPON DATA 80/90 Research Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Long-term outcome of healthy participants with atrial premature complex: a 15-year follow-up of the NIPPON DATA 90 cohort

Taku Inohara et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Atrial premature complexes (APC) are among the most frequently encountered electrocardiographic abnormalities. However, their prognostic value among healthy individuals is unclear. This study aimed to clarify the role of APC in predicting cardiovascular events in a large Japanese community cohort using long-term follow-up data.

Methods: National Integrated Project for Prospective Observation of Non-communicable Disease And its Trends in the Aged, 1990-2005, (NIPPON DATA 90) was a large cohort study of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Japan. A total of 7692 otherwise healthy participants with no history of myocardial infarction, stroke, atrial fibrillation, or atrial flutter were enrolled (men, 41.5%; mean age, 52.5 ± 13.7 years).

Results: A total of 64 (0.8%) participants had at least one beat of APC on screening 12-lead electrocardiogram. During the follow-up of 14.0 ± 2.9 years (total, 107,474 patient-years), 338 deaths occurred due to CVD. The association between APC and CVD outcome was assessed using Cox proportional hazard models. Cox regression analysis revealed that the presence of APC was an independent predictor for CVD deaths (HR: 2.03, 95% CI: 1.12-3.66, P = 0.019). The association of APC on CVD death was more evident in participants with hypertension (P-value for interaction, 0.03).

Conclusions: APC recorded during the screening electrocardiogram are significantly associated with an increased risk of CVD deaths in a Japanese community-dwelling population and are a strong prognostic factor for hypertensive participants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study cohort creation.
APC, atrial premature complexes.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Kaplan–Meier estimates of cumulative hazard for cardiovascular disease for participants with and those without APC.
APC, atrial premature complexes.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Adjusted hazard ratios of atrial premature complexes for cardiovascular disease deaths in various subgroups.
Multivariate-adjusted Model 3 (age, gender, body mass index, smoking habit, drinking habit, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure, serum creatinine, and other ECG findings). BMI, body mass index.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization (2008) The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Update. Geneva, World Health Organization.
    1. Conen D, Adam M, Roche F, Barthelemy JC, Felber Dietrich D et al. (2012) Premature Atrial Contractions in the General Population: Frequency and Risk Factors. Circulation 126: 2302-2308. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.112.112300. PubMed: 23048073. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cheriyath P, He F, Peters I, Li X, Alagona P Jr. et al. (2011) Relation of atrial and/or ventricular premature complexes on a two-minute rhythm strip to the risk of sudden cardiac death (the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities [ARIC] study). Am J Cardiol 107: 151-155. doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2010.09.002. PubMed: 21211594. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Binici Z, Intzilakis T, Nielsen OW, Køber L, Sajadieh A (2010) Excessive supraventricular ectopic activity and increased risk of atrial fibrillation and stroke. Circulation 121: 1904-1911. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.874982. PubMed: 20404258. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Engström G, Hedblad B, Juul-Möller S, Tydén P, Janzon L (2000) Cardiac arrhythmias and stroke: increased risk in men with high frequency of atrial ectopic beats. Stroke 31: 2925-2929. doi: 10.1161/01.STR.31.12.2925. PubMed: 11108750. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms