Premature Atrial Contractions in the General Population: Frequency and Risk Factors

Circ.ahajournals.org: 10/9/12

Background—Premature atrial contractions (PACs) are independent predictors of atrial fibrillation, stroke and death. However, little is known about PAC frequency in the general population and its association with other cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods and Results—We performed a cross-sectional analysis among participants of the population-based Swiss cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA). 24-hour Holter electrocardiograms to assess PAC prevalence and frequency were performed in a random sample of 1742 participants aged ≥50 years. The median (interquartile range) number of PACs per hour was 0.8 (0.4-1.8), 1.1 (0.5-2.4), 1.4 (0.7-4.6), 2.3 (0.8-6.9) and 2.6 (1.2-6.5) among participants aged 50-55, 55-60, 60-65, 65-70 and 70+ years, respectively (p<0.0001). Only 18 (1.0%) participants did not have at least 1 PAC during Holter monitoring. Read more