Hyperuricemia associated with the future atrial fibrillation in normotensive elderly

[[abstract]]Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is one of major cardiovascular disease in elderly population. The association between hyperuricemia and AF is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the prospective relationship between uric acid and development of AF in a national representative elderly cohort. Material and methods A total of 1485 elderly (Age ≥ 65 yrs) from the Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwanese Elderly (1999-2000) were examined by ECG and without atrial fibrillation. The ascertainments of atrial fibrillation incident (ICD-9-CM: 427.31) were identified using data of the National Health Insurance Dataset. The hyperuricemia was defined by the levels of uric acid more than 7.0 mg/dL for men and 6.0 mg/dL for women. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the association between hyperuricemia and atrial fibrillation. Results The follow-up period was from 1999-2000 to 2008. During the follow-up period (median: 9.16 yrs), 90 atrial fibrillation (AF) events occurred (44 for Men and 46 for women). Older age, elevated systolic blood pressure, ex-smoking and high uric acid were positively associated with development of atrial fibrillation. Furthermore, we found that the hyperuricemia was positively associated with development of atrial fibrillation in normal blood pressure (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.81 and 95% confidence intervals: 1.11-7.08), nut not (1.23: 0.76-1.99) in elevated blood pressure (systolic blood pressure >=130 or diastolic blood pressure >=85 or using hypertensive medicine). The significant association between hyperuricemia and atrial fibrillation (3.59; 1.23-10.46) did not change in the model with adjusting for other potential confounders among older persons with normal blood pressure. Conclusion Hyperuricemia was associated with development of Atrial fibrillation in the elderly with normal blood pressure