title: Atrial Fibrillation and Colonic Neoplasia in African Americans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Colorectal cancer (CRC) and atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF) share several risk factors including increasing age and obesity. However, the association between CRC and AF has not been thoroughly examined, especially in African Americans. In this study we aimed to assess the prevalence of AF and its risk factors in colorectal neoplasia in an African American.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed records of 527 African American patients diagnosed with CRC and 1008 patients diagnosed with benign colonic lesions at Howard University Hospital from January 2000 to December 2012. A control group of 731 hospitalized patients without any cancer or colonic lesion were randomly selected from the same time and age range, excluding patients who had diagnosis of both CRC and/or adenoma. The presence or absence of AF was based upon ICD-9 code documentation. The prevalence of AF in these three groups was compared by multivariate logistic regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of AF was highest among CRC patients (10%) followed by adenoma patients (7.2%) then the control group (5.4%, P for trend = 0.002). In the three groups of participants, older age (P<0.008) and heart failure (P<0.001) were significantly associated with higher risk of AF. After adjusting for these risk factors, CRC (OR: 1.4(95%CI):0.9-2.2, P = 0.2) and adenoma (OR: 1.1(95%CI):0.7-1.6, P = 0.7) were not significantly associated AF compared to control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  AF is highly prevalent among CRC patients; 1 in 10 patients had AF in our study. The predictors of AF in CRC was similar to that in adenoma and other patients after adjustment for potential confounders suggesting that the increased AF risk in CRC is explained by higher prevalence of AF risk factors.
authors: Cancer Research Center, and Department of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors: Mehdi
authors: M
authors: Nouraie
authors: Cancer Research Center, and Department of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors: Vandana
authors: V
authors: Kansal
authors: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors: Cassius
authors: C
authors: Belfonte
authors: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors: Mohammad
authors: M
authors: Ghazvini
authors: Cancer Research Center, and Department of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors: Tahmineh
authors: T
authors: Haidari
authors: Cancer Research Center, and Department of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors: Anahita
authors: A
authors: Shahnazi
authors: Cancer Research Center, and Department of Pathology, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors: Hassan
authors: H
authors: Brim
authors: Epidemiological Cardiology Research Center, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston Salem, North Carolina, United States of America; Department of Internal Medicine-Cardiology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston Salem, North Carolina, United States of America.
authors: Elsayed Z
authors: EZ
authors: Soliman
authors: Cancer Research Center, and Department of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America.
authors: Hassan
authors: H
authors: Ashktorab
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors