Compliance in weight control reduces atrial fibrillation worsening: A retrospective cohort study

Background and aim Obesity plays a dominant role in the etiology of atrial fibrillation (AF), and the maintenance of a normal body mass index (BMI) seems to prevent and even reduce the incidence of the arrhythmia's recurrence. We selected 270 patients (pts) to assess whether this therapeutic effect was statistically significant even in Mediterranean patients. Method and results In this retrospective cohort study, we analyzed every symptomatic AF relapse during a total follow-up of 657 patient-years. Clinical data, BMI variations, and pts' history were available in our clinical database. We divided the pts in four groups (Gs), according to their BMI variation during the follow-up: G1, normal weight pts, maintaining their weight; G2, overweight pts, losing weight; G3, overweight pts, maintaining their weight; G4, pts gaining weight. Their follow-up (in months) was normalized according to their AF relapses, thus obtaining a mean AF-free period for each patient. Among the overweight groups, G2 showed the best AF-free period (9.7 months). However, G3 and G4 showed a reduced AF-free interval (4.6 and 1.7 months, respectively). G1, predictably, had the longest AF-free period (10 months). Conclusion The results of the present study confirm that simple non-invasive intervention aimed to normalize BMI and to control risk factors through appropriate lifestyle can be highly effective in reducing the AF burden, by acting on comorbidities and proarrhythmic mechanisms. Therefore, serious attempt should be made to correct risk factors before an ablation therapy is proposed.