Atrial fibrillation in cancer patients: an underrecognized condition.

摘要

To the Editor: Cancer remains the second most common cause of death in the United States while atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in elderly people. Though there are several proposed risk factors for AF, it is unclear if cancer is a risk factor for AF or vice-versa. Recent data suggest that AF may be an inflammatory complication resulting from initiation of an inflammatory response to any inciting agent such as stress, surgery, and infection. Chung et al analyzed the association between cancer, AF and inflammatory state and reported that atrial arrhythmias were significantly more common in patients with a history of malignancy ([18.3%] vs [5.6%], P = 0.018).