Increased pulse pressure independently predicts incident atrial fibrillation in patients with type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVEdTo examine whether baseline pulse pressure (PP), a marker of arterial stiffness,is associated with subsequent development of atrial fibrillation (AF) in type 2 diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSdA total of 350 type 2 diabetic patients, whowere free from AF at baseline, were followed for 10 years. A standard electrocardiogram wasperformed annually and a diagnosis of incident AF was confirmed in affected participants by asingle cardiologist.RESULTSdDuring the follow-up, 32 patients (9.1% of total) developed incident AF. Afteradjustments for age, sex, BMI, diabetes duration, presence of left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertensiontreatment, kidney dysfunction, and pre-existing history of coronary heart disease,heart failure, and mild valvular disease, baseline PP was associated with an increased incidence ofAF (adjusted odds ratio 1.76 for each SD increment [95% CI 1.1–2.8]; P , 0.01).CONCLUSIONSdOur findings suggest that increased PP independently predicts incidentAF in patients with type 2 diabetes.