Palpitations are predictive of future atrial fibrillation. An 11-year follow-up of 22,815 men and women: the Tromsø Study

cpr.sagepub.com:  May 15, 2012.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia which increases morbidity and mortality. Identification of risk factors is therefore important. We examined the impact of palpitations and cardiovascular risk factors in prediction of AF (all types) and lone AF in a large population-based cohort.

Design: We carried out a prospective population-based cohort study.

Methods: A total of 22,815 participants from a population survey in 1994–1995 were followed-up for a mean of 11.1 years. Mean age at baseline was 46 years. Read more