Kidney function may promote progression of AF.

We evaluated the association of kidney function to AF progression and resultant clinical outcomes in patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED).

We performed a retrospective cohort study using national clinical data from the Veterans Health Administration linked to CIED data from the Carelink® remote monitoring data warehouse (Medtronic Inc, Mounds View, MN). All devices had atrial leads and at least 75% of remote monitoring transmission coverage. Patients were included at the date of the first AF episode lasting ≥6 minutes, and followed until the occurrence of persistent AF in the first year, defined as ≥7 consecutive days with continuous AF. We used Cox regression analyses with persistent AF as a time-varying covariate to examine the association to stroke, myocardial infarction, heart failure and death.

Of, 10,323 eligible patients, 1,771 had a first CIED-detected AF (mean age 69 ± 10 years, 1.2% female). In the first year 355 (20%) developed persistent AF. Kidney function was not associated with persistent AF after multivariable adjustment including CHA₂DS₂-VASc variables and prior medications. Only higher age increased the risk (HR: 1.37 per 10 years; 95% CI:1.22-1.54). Persistent AF was associated to higher risk of heart failure (HR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.88-2.74) and death (HR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.30-1.96), but not stroke (HR: 1.28; 95% CI: 0.62-2.62) or myocardial infarction (HR: 1.43; 95% CI: 0.91-2.25).

Kidney function was not associated to AF progression, whereas higher age was. Preventing AF progression could reduce the risk of heart failure and death.