Uncontrolled blood pressure affects atrial remodeling and adverse clinical outcome in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Abstract Background To investigate the impact of uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) on left atrial (LA) remodeling and clinical outcome after pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods One hundred and one symptomatic paroxysmal AF patients (85 males, 62.2 ± 8.4‐year‐old) who underwent successful PVI were classified as follows: group 1 (n = 46), no hypertension (HTN); group 2 (n = 36), HTN with controlled BP; and group 3 (n = 19), HTN with uncontrolled BP. Uncontrolled BP was defined as BP > 140/90 mm Hg. LA dimension was measured by echocardiography before and 6 months after PVI. LA wall thickness along the ablation line was measured using computed tomography prior to PVI. Cox regression analysis was performed for the prediction of recurrence. Results LA wall thickness in groups 2 and 3 was greater than that of group 1, except for the anterior right superior pulmonary vein (PV) and posterior left inferior PV. Kaplan‐Meier analysis revealed a significantly higher recurrence in group 3 (52.6%). LA dimension only increased in group 3 (38.2 ± 5.6 mm to 41.3 ± 6.2 mm, P = 0.022). At the second procedure, all group 3 recurrent patients showed substrate degradation (low voltage area and/or dense scar formation) and required substrate modification. Uncontrolled BP was an independent risk factor for recurrence (hazard ratio: 2.350, P = 0.033). Conclusions HTN induced heterogeneous LA hypertrophy regardless of whether HTN was controlled. Uncontrolled BP promoted atrial remodeling, and is therefore a strong predictor for recurrence of AF after PVI.