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(Circulation. 2009;120:1679-1686.)
© 2009 American Heart Association, Inc.

Congenital Heart Disease

Atrial Arrhythmias in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease

Judith Bouchardy, MD; Judith Therrien, MD; Louise Pilote, MD, MPH, PhD; Raluca Ionescu-Ittu, MSc; Giuseppe Martucci, MD; Natalie Bottega, MD; Ariane J. Marelli, MD

From the McGill Adult Unit for Congenital Heart Disease Excellence, McGill University Health Center and the Jewish General Hospital (J.B., J.T., R.I.-I., G.M., N.B., A.J.M.) and Division of Internal Medicine, McGill University Health Centre Research Institute (L.P., R.I.-I.), Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Reprints requests to Ariane Marelli, MD, FRCPC, McGill Adult Unit for Congenital Heart Disease, McGill University, McGill University Health Centre, 687 Pine Ave, Room H4.33, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada. E-mail ariane.marelli{at}mcgill.ca

Received March 17, 2009; accepted August 3, 2009.

Background— Atrial arrhythmias increase disease burden in the general adult population. Adults with congenital heart lesions constitute a rapidly growing group of patients with cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized that atrial arrhythmias increase with age and impair health outcomes in this population.

Methods and Results— We conducted a population-based analysis of prevalence, lifetime risk, mortality, and morbidity associated with atrial arrhythmias in adults with congenital heart disease from l983 to 2005. In 38 428 adults with congenital heart disease in 2005, 5812 had atrial arrhythmias. Overall, the 20-year risk of developing atrial arrhythmia was 7% in a 20-year-old subject and 38% in a 50-year-old subject. More than 50% of patients with severe congenital heart disease reaching age 18 years developed atrial arrhythmias by age 65 years. In patients with congenital heart disease, the hazard ratio of any adverse event in those with atrial arrhythmias compared with those without was 2.50 (95% confidence interval, 2.38 to 2.62; P<0.0001), with a near 50% increase in mortality (hazard ratio, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.37 to 1.58; P<0.001), more than double the risk of morbidity (stroke or heart failure) (hazard ratio, 2.21; 95% confidence interval, 2.07 to 2.36; P<0.001), and 3 times the risk of cardiac interventions (hazard ratio, 3.00; 95% confidence interval, 2.81 to 3.20; P<0.001).

Conclusions— Atrial arrhythmias occurred in 15% of adults with congenital heart disease. The lifetime incidence increased steadily with age and was associated with a doubling of the risk of adverse events. An increase in resource allocation should be anticipated to deal with this increasing burden.

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