Impact of Blood Pressure Control on Thromboembolism and Maȷor Hemorrhage in Patients With Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: A Subanalysis of the J-RHYTHM Registry [Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology]

BackgroundTo clarify the influence of hypertension and blood pressure (BP) control on thromboembolism and major hemorrhage in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, a post hoc analysis of the J‐RHYTHM Registry was performed.Methods and ResultsA consecutive series of outpatients with atrial fibrillation was enrolled from 158 institutions. Of 7937 patients, 7406 with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (70.8% men, 69.8±10.0 years) were followed for 2 years or until an event occurred. Hypertension was defined as a systolic BP ≥140 mm Hg, a diastolic BP ≥90 mm Hg, a history of hypertension, and/or antihypertensive drug use. Hypertension was an independent risk factor for major hemorrhage (hazard ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.05–2.21, P=0.027) but not for thromboembolism (hazard ratio 1.05, 95% CI 0.73–1.52, P=0.787). When patients were divided into quartiles according to their systolic BP at the time closest to the event or at the end of follow‐up (Q1,

Source: JAHA:Journal of the American Heart Association - September 11, 2016 Category: Cardiology Authors: Kodani, E., Atarashi, H., Inoue, H., Okumura, K., Yamashita, T., Otsuka, T., Tomita, H., Origasa, H. Tags: Atrial Fibrillation, High Blood Pressure, Hypertension, Intracranial Hemorrhage, Ischemic Stroke Original Research Source Type: research