title: Epidemiology of new-onset paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in the General Intensive Care Unit population and after discharge from ICU. A retrospective epidemiological study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence of various cardiac arrhythmias in septic patients has been demonstrated by multiple clinical reports and observations. Most cardiac arrhythmias in sepsis are new-onset and may be related to sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction. We propose to investigate and analyze data of new-onset paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) in a critically ill septic population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a retrospective epidemiologic study. We collected clinical data from two hundred septic patients who developed a new episode of atrial fibrillation during their hospitalization in General Intensive Care Unit (GICU) between January 2007 and June 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of these 200 septic patients, 81 septic patients developed a new episode of AF and included in the present study. Thirty-seven patients had no past medical history of atrial fibrillation (AF) or antiarrhythmic therapy (new episode of atrial fibrillation, Group 1) and 44 had previously known episodes of atrial fibrillation and were prescribed antiarrhythmic therapy at home (Group 2). Group 2 patients had longer duration of recurrent episodes of atrial fibrillation compared to patients in Group 1 (11.07 ± 8.7 vs. 7.4 ± 6.1 days; P = 0.013). The overall ICU and in-hospital mortality rate was similar in both study groups. There was no significant difference in new stroke and pulmonary embolism (PE) between both study groups (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the present study we demonstrated no difference in morbidity and mortality rate in-ICU and after discharge between septic patients who had previous AF episodes and patients who had no previous past medical history of any cardiac arrhythmias.
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koyfman
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology And Critical Care, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. bem1975@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Evgeni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brotfain
authors.forename: Ruslan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kutz
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frenkel
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boniel
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zlotnik
authors.forename: Moti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D016638:Critical Illness; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018805:Sepsis / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: New-onset atrial fibrillation; cardiac arrhythmias; sepsis