open access publication

Article, 2023

Atrial Fibrillation (AFIB) in the ICU: Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes: The International AFIB-ICU Cohort Study*

CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE, ISSN 0090-3493, 0090-3493, Volume 51, 9, Pages 1124-1137, 10.1097/CCM.0000000000005883

Contributors

Wetterslev, Mik 0000-0002-8798-1133 (Corresponding author) [1] [2] Moller, M. Hylander [1] [2] [3] Granholm, Anders 0000-0001-5799-7655 [1] [2] Hassager, C. 0000-0002-1199-0981 [1] [2] Haase, Nicolai [1] [2] Lange, T. 0000-0001-6807-8347 [2] Myatra, Sheila N 0000-0001-6761-163X [4] [5] [6] Hastbacka, Johanna [7] [8] Arabi, Yaseen M. 0000-0001-5735-6241 [9] [10] [11] Shen, Jiawei 0000-0001-7048-6665 [12] Cronhjort, Maria [13] [14] Lindqvist, Elin [13] [14] Aneman, Anders J. [15] [16] Young, Paul J. [17] [18] Szczeklik, Wojciech [19] [20] Siegemund, M. 0000-0002-2013-4140 [21] Koster, Thijs [22] Aslam, Tayyba Naz H. [23] [24] Bestle, M. H. 0000-0001-6585-2659 Girkov, Mia Seremet [2] Kalvit, Kushal [4] [5] [6] Mohanty, Rakesh 0000-0002-7002-4142 [4] [5] [6] Mascarenhas, Joanne [25] Pattnaik, Manoranjan [26] Vergis, Sara 0000-0002-9193-9819 [27] Haranath, Sai Praveen [28] Shah, Mehul [29] Joshi, Ziyokov [30] Wilkman, Erika [7] [8] Reinikainen, Matti [31] [32] Lehto, Pasi [33] Jalkanen, Ville [34] [35] Pulkkinen, Anni [36] An, Y. [12] Wang, Guoxing 0000-0002-6013-6466 [37] Huang, Lei [12] Huang, Bin 0000-0002-5503-9020 [12] Liu, Wei [37] Gao, Hengbo [38] Dou, Lin [39] Li, Shuangling [40] Yang, Wanchun [41] Tegnell, Emily [42] Knight, Agnes [43] Czuczwar, M. 0000-0002-9025-6717 [44] Czarnik, Tomasz 0000-0002-6734-978X [45] Perner, Anders [1] [2] AFIB-ICU Collaborators

Affiliations

  1. [1] Univ Copenhagen, Dept Cardiol, Rigshosp, Copenhagen, Denmark
  2. [NORA names: Capital Region of Denmark; Hospital; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
  3. [2] Univ Copenhagen, Dept Cardiol, Rigshosp, Copenhagen, Denmark
  4. [NORA names: KU University of Copenhagen; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
  5. [3] Copenhagen Univ Hosp North Zealand, Dept Anaesthesia & Intens Care, Copenhagen, Denmark
  6. [NORA names: Capital Region of Denmark; Hospital; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
  7. [4] Tata Mem Hosp, Homi Bhabha Natl Inst, Dept Anaesthesiol Crit Care & Pain, Mumbai, India
  8. [NORA names: India; Asia, South];
  9. [5] Tata Mem Hosp, Homi Bhabha Natl Inst, Dept Anaesthesiol Crit Care & Pain, Mumbai, India
  10. [NORA names: India; Asia, South];

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:To assess the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the ICU and to describe current practice in the management of AF. DESIGN:Multicenter, prospective, inception cohort study. SETTING:Forty-four ICUs in 12 countries in four geographical regions. SUBJECTS:Adult, acutely admitted ICU patients without a history of persistent/permanent AF or recent cardiac surgery were enrolled; inception periods were from October 2020 to June 2021. INTERVENTIONS:None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:We included 1,423 ICU patients and analyzed 1,415 (99.4%), among whom 221 patients had 539 episodes of AF. Most (59%) episodes were diagnosed with continuous electrocardiogram monitoring. The incidence of AF was 15.6% (95% CI, 13.8-17.6), of which newly developed AF was 13.3% (11.5-15.1). A history of arterial hypertension, paroxysmal AF, sepsis, or high disease severity at ICU admission was associated with AF. Used interventions to manage AF were fluid bolus 19% (95% CI 16-23), magnesium 16% (13-20), potassium 15% (12-19), amiodarone 51% (47-55), beta-1 selective blockers 34% (30-38), calcium channel blockers 4% (2-6), digoxin 16% (12-19), and direct current cardioversion in 4% (2-6). Patients with AF had more ischemic, thromboembolic (13.6% vs 7.9%), and severe bleeding events (5.9% vs 2.1%), and higher mortality (41.2% vs 25.2%) than those without AF. The adjusted cause-specific hazard ratio for 90-day mortality by AF was 1.38 (95% CI, 0.95-1.99). CONCLUSIONS:In ICU patients, AF occurred in one of six and was associated with different conditions. AF was associated with worse outcomes while not statistically significantly associated with 90-day mortality in the adjusted analyses. We observed variations in the diagnostic and management strategies for AF.

Keywords

adverse outcomes, critical illness, intensive care units, management, newly developed atrial fibrillation

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