LAUSR

Objective: To determine the prevalence of hypertension in patients suffering from atrial fibrillation (AF), to assess echocardiographic parameters in patients with AF with or without hypertension, and to assess the current status of the use of anticoagulation for the treatment of AF. Design and method: The study included 167 patients with AF: 116 men (69.46%) and 51 women (30.54%) who were hospitalized at our University Hospital between 2014. and 2016 year. Out of 167 patients with AF, 133 (79.6%) had hypertension (group AFHT), while 34 (20.4%) had not (group AF). In all pts echocardiography study was performed and size of left atrium (LA), ejection fraction (LVEF) and systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) were determined. Results: The most common type of atrial fibrillation AFHT group was paroxysmal (37.5%), while in the AF group was permanent (40.2%). Size of LA was higher in AFHT group than in AF group (48.3 ± 6.84 vs 47.4 ± 10.82 mm, ns), as well as LVEF 49.5%vs 48.8% (ns). Patients with new diagnosed AF and hypertension had statistically higher values of LVEF than patients with first diagnosed AF without hypertension (53.0 ± 14.6 vs 39.2 ± 10.5; P < 0,042). Value of sPAP was higher (ns) in the subgroup of pts with first diagnosed and pts with persistent AF in AFHT than in AF group. At the admission, only 98 (58.7%) pts had used oral anticoagulant therapy, while 127 (76.1%) pts was on OAT at discharge. Conclusions: Our study showed high prevalence of arterial hypertension in patients with atrial fibrillation. In pts with AF, size of LA, LVEF and sPAP are higher in pts with than without hypertension. In spite of high prevalence of AF, use of OAT is still low.