BioScience Trends. 2021;15(6):390-396. (DOI: 10.5582/bst.2021.01461)

Association of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor antagonists use with risk of atrial fibrillation after pacemaker implantation among very old patients

Lin DW, Wu C, Jiang YW, Li YG, Zhang X, Wang YS

It remains unknown whether and to what extend the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) can play a role in the development of atrial fibrillation (AF) after pacemaker implantation in very old patients. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between oral ACEIs or ARBs and the risk of developing AF in very old patients after pacemaker implantation. Patients above 80 years old with pacemaker implantation and without baseline history of AF were included and their real-world information about ACEIs or ARBs use was extracted from electronic medical records. New AF cases were confirmed via the records of outpatient visits. The multivariable Cox proportional-hazards model was used to evaluate the associations between oral ACEIs or ARBs and risk of AF after pacemaker implantation. Among a total of 388 identified patients aged 80 to 98 years, 118 used ACEIs, 174 had ARBs therapy, and 115 AF were identified after pacemaker implantation during a median follow-up time of 3.1 years. After adjustment for potential confounders, patients with daily use of ARBs had a relatively lower risk of AF after pacemaker implantation (HR: 0.627, 95% CI: 0.425, 0.926; P = 0.019) compared with those non-users, whereas ACEIs therapy didn't show a significant relation with AF risk (HR: 1.335, 95% CI: 0.894, 1.995; P = 0.157). In conclusion, for very old patients with a permanent pacemaker, daily use of oral ARBs was associated with a relative lower risk of AF after pacemaker implantation, however, daily use of ACEIs was not related with AF risk.

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