Increased Pulse Pressure Independently Predicts Incident Atrial Fibrillation in PatientsWith Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVEdTo examine whether baseline pulse pressure (PP), a marker of arterial stiffness, is associated with subsequent development of atrial fibrillation (AF) in type 2 diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSdA total of 350 type 2 diabetic patients, who were free from AF at baseline, were followed for 10 years. A standard electrocardiogram was performed annually and a diagnosis of incident AF was confirmed in affected participants by a single cardiologist. RESULTSdDuring the follow-up, 32 patients (9.1 % of total) developed incident AF. After adjustments for age, sex, BMI, diabetes duration, presence of left ventricular hypertrophy, hy-pertension treatment, kidney dysfunction, and pre-existing history of coronary heart disease, heart failure, andmild valvular disease, baseline PP was associated with an increased incidence of AF (adjusted odds ratio 1.76 for each SD increment [95 % CI 1.1–2.8]; P, 0.01). CONCLUSIONSdOur findings suggest that increased PP independently predicts incident AF in patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 35:2337–2339, 2012 A trial fibrillation (AF) is the mostcommon sustained arrhythmia andcontributes to substantial increase