Impact of Obesity on Atrial Fibrillation Pathogenesis and Treatment Options

ABSTRACT Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. AF increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, dementia, and hospitalization. Obesity significantly increases AF risk, both directly and indirectly, through related conditions, like hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure. O...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rina Sha, Olivia Baines, Abbie Hayes, Katie Tompkins, Manish Kalla, Andrew P. Holmes, Christopher O'Shea, Davor Pavlovic
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-01-01
Series:Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
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Online Access:https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.123.032277
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. AF increases the risk of stroke, heart failure, dementia, and hospitalization. Obesity significantly increases AF risk, both directly and indirectly, through related conditions, like hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure. Obesity‐driven structural and electrical remodeling contribute to AF via several reported mechanisms, including adiposity, inflammation, fibrosis, oxidative stress, ion channel alterations, and autonomic dysfunction. In particular, expanding epicardial adipose tissue during obesity has been suggested as a key driver of AF via paracrine signaling and direct infiltration. Weight loss has been shown to reverse these changes and reduce AF risk and recurrence after ablation. However, studies on how obesity affects pharmacologic or interventional AF treatments are limited. In this review, we discuss mechanisms by which obesity mediates AF and treatment outcomes, aiming to provide insight into obesity‐drug interactions and guide personalized treatment for this patient subgroup.
ISSN:2047-9980