Association between atrial fibrillation and Helicobacter pylori

Cecilia Tetta, Amalia Ioanna Moula, Francesco Matteucci, Orlando Parise, Bart Maesen, Daniel Johnson, Mark La Meir, Sandro Gelsomino*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal(Systematic) Review article peer-review

Abstract

The connection between atrial fibrillation (AF) and H. pylori (HP) infection is still matter of debate. We performed a systematic review and metanalysis of studies reporting the association between AF and HF. A systematic review of all available reports in literature of the incidence of HP infection in AF and comparing this incidence with subjects without AF were analysed. Risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) and risk difference with standard error (SE) were the main statistics indexes. Six retrospective studies including a total of 2921 were included at the end of the selection process. Nine hundred-fifty-six patients (32.7%) were in AF, whereas 1965 (67.3%) were in normal sinus rhythm (NSR). Overall, 335 of 956 patients with AF were HP positive (35%), whereas 621 were HP negative (65%). In addition, 643 of 1965 NSR patients (32.7%) were HP positive while 1,322 were negative (67.3%; Chi-square 2.15, p=0.21). The Cumulative Risk Ratio for AF patients for developing an HP infection was 1.19 (95% CI 1.08-1.41). In addition, a small difference risk towards AF was found (0.11 [SE=0.04]). Moreover, neither RR nor risk difference were influenced by the geographic area at meta-regression analysis. Finally, there was a weak correlation between AF and HP (coefficient=0.04 [95% CI -0.01-0.08]). We failed to find any significant correlation between H. pylori infection and AF and, based on our data, it seems unlikely than HP can be considered a risk factor for AF. Further larger research is warranted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)730-740
Number of pages11
JournalClinical research in cardiology
Volume108
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2019

Keywords

  • Atrial fibrillation
  • Helicobacter pylori
  • Metanalysis
  • C-REACTIVE PROTEIN
  • GLOBAL BURDEN
  • INFECTION
  • DISEASE
  • HEART
  • INTERLEUKIN-6
  • EPIDEMIOLOGY
  • PREVALENCE
  • BIAS

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