Study: Age, Sex, and BMI Plus Two Biomarkers Can Identify AFib

A new study has pinpointed several clinical risks and biomarkers for atrial fibrillation (AFib).

Researchers, publishing in the European Heart Journal, identified 40 common cardiovascular biomarkers in 638 consecutive patients admitted with known AFib or two or more CHA₂DS₂-VASc risk factors. The employed logistic regression with forward selection and machine learning algorithms to determine clinical risk factors as well as biomarkers associated with AFib.

Pleasant surprise for Monday. Joint first author in this European Heart Journal article. Novel biomarkers for AF. https://t.co/XytaBo56JN

— り (@Yanish12) January 7, 2019

Biomarkers identified to help diagnose heart condition❗ https://t.co/ELJ5IpMMCy 3 simple clinical risk factors (age, sex, and BMI) and two biomarkers (elevated BNP and elevated FGF-23) identify patients with AF https://t.co/KXHyAIsNLG AF affects around 1.6m people in the UK❗

— Reiner  (@erlesen) January 8, 2019

According to their results, AFib correlated significantly (and exclusively) with age (P=0.001), male sex (P=0.008), BMI (P=0.003), elevated BNP levels (P=0.002), elevated FGF-23 (P=0.001), and reduced TRAIL-R2 (P=0.001). These biomarkers helped improve prediction of AFib when compared to just looking at clinical factors alone (P<0.001).

New research has identified two biomarkers that could help diagnose a heart condition that increases the risk of stroke @ESC_Journals https://t.co/hTscLedM1Y

— OUP Medicine (@OUPMedicine) January 9, 2019

“ECG screening is resource-intensive and burdensome for patients therefore it is important that the right patients are selected for this type of screening,” lead author Yanish Purmah, MD, of the University of Birmingham, concluded in a press release. “The biomarkers we have identified have the potential to be used in a blood test in community settings such as in general practices to simplify patient selection for ECG screening.”

https://twitter.com/ckrusemd/statuses/1083122533094866949

Coauthor Paulus Kirchhof, MD, Director of the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, added that “[w]e hope that, as the result of our findings, more people with what can often be a silent disease are diagnosed so that any complications can be prevented.”

PUBLICATION: "Data-driven discovery and validation of circulating blood-based biomarkers associated with prevalent atrial fibrillation", published today in @ESC_Journals https://t.co/cwUIb69tlG @afnet_ev pic.twitter.com/ZKqIHhlkJK

— Cardiovascular Sciences (CVS)- UoB (@CVS_UoB) January 7, 2019

Source: European Heart Journal