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Age-related changes in morphology of left atrial appendage in patients with atrial fibrillation

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between age and frequency of left atrial appendage (LAA) morphology in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) compared with sinus rhythm (SR). We enrolled 145 AF patients, and 199 SR patients for the control group without any cardiovascular disease. LAA volume index (LAAVi) and morphology were assessed by electrocardiogram-gated computed tomography angiography. LAA morphology was classified into “chicken wing” or “non-chicken wing” according to the previously described classification. There was no significant trend in frequency of non-chicken wing morphology among ages in the SR group (p = 0.36 for trend), whereas the frequency was negatively related to age in the AF group (p = 0.002 for trend). In multivariable logistic regression, age > 65 (odds ratio [OR] 0.42, p = 0.002) and duration of AF (OR 0.53, p = 0.010) and LAAVi (OR 0.62, p = 0.017) were independent factors of non-chicken wing LAA morphology in the AF group. LAA morphology is affected by age, especially in patients with AF. When we utilize non-chicken wing LAA morphology as a stroke risk factor in patients with AF, we should pay attention to their age.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the expert work of the staff in our Radiological technician, as well as the staff in the Ultrasound Examination Center, Tokushima University Hospital. This study was supported by the Japanese Society of Sonographers Grant. M. Sata received research funding from Takeda, Tanabe-Mitsubishi, Astellas, Daiichi-Sankyo, MSD, Bayer Healthcare, and Ono, and honoraria from Takeda, Boehringer Ingelheim, Byer Healthcare, Mochida, Astellas, Tanabe-Mitsubishi, Novartis, AstraZeneca, MSD, and Shionogi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ultrasound Examination Center, Tokushima University Hospital, Tokushima, Japan

    Yukina Hirata, Kenya Kusunose, Hirotsugu Yamada, Yuta Torii, Susumu Nishio & Masataka Sata

  2. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Tokushima University Hospital, 2-50-1 Kuramoto, Tokushima, Japan

    Kenya Kusunose, Hirotsugu Yamada, Yoshihito Saijo, Takeshi Soeki & Masataka Sata

  3. Radiological Technology, Tokushima University Hospital, Tokushima, Japan

    Rikuto Shimizu

  4. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan

    Shoichiro Takao

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  1. Yukina Hirata
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  2. Kenya Kusunose
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  3. Hirotsugu Yamada
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  4. Rikuto Shimizu
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  5. Yuta Torii
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  7. Yoshihito Saijo
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  9. Takeshi Soeki
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  10. Masataka Sata
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Correspondence to Kenya Kusunose.

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Hirata, Y., Kusunose, K., Yamada, H. et al. Age-related changes in morphology of left atrial appendage in patients with atrial fibrillation. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 34, 321–328 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-017-1232-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-017-1232-x

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