What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

Atrial fibrillation is the most common cardiac arrhythmia. Long-term alcohol use has been associated with remodeling of the heart atria and development of atrial fibrillation. Avoiding alcohol has also been associated with reduced atrial fibrillation. The specific relationship between an alcoholic drink and atrial fibrillation is difficult to figure out because of how commonly alcohol is consumed.

Why did the researchers do this particular study?

Researchers were interested in the specific association between drinking alcohol and the risk for an episode of atrial fibrillation soon afterward.

Who was studied?

100 adults with paroxysmal (intermittent) atrial fibrillation who drank an average of 1 drink per month were recruited from cardiology clinics at the University of California, San Francisco.

How was the study done?

Each patient wore an electrocardiogram monitor for 4 weeks. The monitor recorded the time and length of each episode of atrial fibrillation. Patients were asked to press a button on the monitor every time they had a drink. Patients also wore a sensor around their ankle that measures alcohol consumption. At 2 and 4 weeks, patients came in to have their device checked and to have a fingerstick blood test to measure alcohol use. For each patient, the analysis compared the number of episodes of atrial fibrillation that were preceded by a drink of alcohol and the number of episodes that were not. This method of using each patient as his or her own control reduces the chance that other factors, such as age, other medical conditions, or medications, may affect the likelihood of atrial fibrillation. The analyses accounted for differences by day of week and time of day.

What did the researchers find?

56 patients had an atrial fibrillation episode and thus were included in the analysis. In people who had an atrial fibrillation episode, it was about twice as likely that they had had alcohol in the 4 hours before the episode. The association was slightly more with more drinks and with a 6-hour time frame, but it decreased with longer time frames. Additional analyses to account for all atrial fibrillation episodes reduced the association, but the pattern and statistical significance of findings were similar. Findings were similar when alcohol concentration was measured using the wearable monitor: Atrial fibrillation was more likely to be seen within hours of alcohol detected by the alcohol sensor.

What were the limitations of the study?

This is a small study that may not be generalizable beyond the types of patients it included. The participants may have characteristics that make them more susceptible to alcohol than others. Despite the analyses and use of the same person as the control, there may still be other factors that may be associated with both alcohol and atrial fibrillation that were not accounted for. The modest effect of alcohol on atrial fibrillation may not translate to other cardiovascular diseases. There were still episodes of atrial fibrillation not preceded by alcohol drinking. Although alcohol may be associated with individual atrial fibrillation events in people with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, it may be one of many factors.

What are the implications of the study?

Alcohol may be a modifiable exposure associated with individual and nearly immediate atrial fibrillation events in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

中文翻译：

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患者摘要：饮酒和心房颤动

问题是什么，到目前为止已知的情况是什么？

房颤是最常见的心律失常。长期饮酒与心房重塑和心房颤动的发展有关。避免饮酒也与房颤的减少有关。由于饮酒的频率很高，因此很难弄清楚酒精饮料与心房颤动之间的具体关系。

为什么研究人员要进行这项特别的研究？

研究人员对饮酒与此后不久发生房颤的风险之间的具体关联感兴趣。

谁被研究了？

从加利福尼亚大学旧金山分校的心脏病诊所招募了 100 名患有阵发性（间歇性）房颤的成年人，他们平均每月喝 1 杯酒。

研究是如何进行的？

每位患者佩戴心电图监护仪 4 周。监护仪记录了每次房颤发作的时间和长度。患者每次喝酒时都被要求按下显示器上的一个按钮。患者还在脚踝周围佩戴了一个传感器，用于测量饮酒量。在第 2 周和第 4 周，患者进来检查他们的设备并进行指尖血液测试以测量酒精使用情况。对于每位患者，分析比较了饮酒前的房颤发作次数和未饮酒的房颤发作次数。这种使用每位患者作为他或她自己的控制的方法降低了其他因素（例如年龄、其他医疗条件或药物）可能影响心房颤动可能性的机会。

研究人员发现了什么？

56 名患者发生了房颤，因此被纳入分析。在房颤发作的人群中，发作前 4 小时内饮酒的可能性大约是其两倍。这种关联随着饮酒量增加和 6 小时的时间范围略有增加，但随着时间范围的延长而下降。解释所有房颤发作的额外分析降低了相关性，但结果的模式和统计显着性相似。使用可穿戴监测器测量酒精浓度时，结果相似：在酒精传感器检测到酒精后数小时内，更有可能看到心房颤动。

研究的局限性是什么？

这是一项小型研究，可能无法推广到它所包括的患者类型之外。参与者可能具有使他们比其他人更容易酗酒的特征。尽管分析和使用与对照相同的人，但可能仍有其他因素可能与酒精和心房颤动相关，但没有被考虑在内。酒精对心房颤动的适度影响可能不会转化为其他心血管疾病。仍然有房颤发作，而不是在饮酒之前。尽管酒精可能与阵发性房颤患者的个别房颤事件有关，但它可能是众多因素之一。

研究的意义是什么？

在阵发性心房颤动患者中，酒精可能是一种与个体和几乎立即发生的心房颤动事件相关的可变暴露。