Anxiety is associated with increased risk for atrial cardiopathy

Anxiety is common in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The mutual causal effect between anxiety and AF is expected with limited evidence. Atrial cardiopathy is a term to describe structural or electrophysiological atrium abnormality that precedes the onset of AF. This study aimed to investigate the association of anxiety with atrial cardiopathy, giving a clue to the causal relationship of this mind–heart link. This cross-sectional study analyzed 532 patients who were free of AF, atrial flutter, stroke, acute coronary syndrome and valvular heart disease. Atrial cardiopathy was defined as P-wave terminal force in lead V1 > 5000 μV·ms on electrocardiogram or severe left atrial enlargement on echocardiogram. Generalized anxiety disorder was ascertained by a score of > 17/56 on Hamilton anxiety rating scale. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore the association of anxiety with atrial cardiopathy. A total of 65(12.2%) patients had atrial cardiopathy and 53(10.0%) had generalized anxiety disorder, respectively. Those with atrial cardiopathy were older (74.0 vs 67.0, P < 0.001), had a bigger left ventricular posterior wall thickness (10.1 vs 9.7 mm, P = 0.030), and had a higher prevalence of hypertension (83.1% vs 65.5%, P = 0.005), premature complexes (20.0% vs 6.2%, P < 0.001), and generalized anxiety disorder (20.0% vs 8.6%, P = 0.004), respectively. Multivariable logistic regression showed the significant association of anxiety with atrial cardiopathy (OR 2.788; 95% CI 1.304–5.960, P = 0.008), independent of confounding factors. Anxiety is independently associated with atrial cardiopathy. This association indicates the triggering effect of anxiety on atrial remodeling.